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SIXTY  MILESTONES 
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1859  1919 


LADDe^TILTON  BANK 


PORTLAND 


OREGON 


AT    LOS  ANGELES 


ROBERT  ERNEST  COWAN 


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Sixty  Milestones  of  Progress 


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PRESENT  HOME  OF  LADO  tw  TILTON  EiANK 


"  "Tis  not  in  mortals  to  command  success, 

But  we'll  do  more,  ***** 

We'll  deserve  it." 

—ADDISON 


EDIIED  BY 

MARTIN  E.   FITZGERALD 

oj 
LADD  &  TILTON  BANK 


PRINTED    AND    BOUND    BY 

JAMES,    KERNS    &■    ABBOTT    COMPANY 

PORTLAND,    OREGON 


7-  y 


Sixty  Milestones 
OF  Progress 

I  8  5  Q  -  I  q  I  q 


LADD  &  TILTON  BANK 

PORTLAND,  OREGON 


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MEMBER 

"FEDERAL  RESERVE^ 

SYSTEM^ 


Co[yyngkt,   1919 
Ladd  <!ji  TiUon  Bank 


<  <   *     C       '  «       * 


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en 


CONTENTS 


Acknowledgment     

Introductory    

Sixty  Milestones  of  Progress      .... 

Establishment  of  National  Banking  System     . 

The  Federal  Reserve  System       .... 

Copartnership,  Origin  of  Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank 

The  Partners  and  Their  Policy  .... 

Indian  Troubles  Retard  Settlement 

Simple  Annals  of  Early  Days       .... 

Shipments  of  Money  and  "High  Cost"  of  Exchange 

Character  The  Basis  of  Security 

Mail  Delivery  and  Other  Transportation  Handicaps 

The  Bank  Increases  Its  Capital  Stock 

Civil  War  Days 

East  Side  Shipyard 

The  Bank  Moves  to  New  Quarters     . 

Springtime  and  Peace 

Portland  Prospers  

Ladd  &  Tilton  Erect  New  Bank  Building 
Mr.  Ladp  Gives  Free  Home  TO  Library 
The  City  Grows — River  Steamers  Multiply     . 
Panic  AND  Fire  OF  1873,  Great  Disasters  . 

Mr.  Ladd's  Health  Fails 

After  the  Fire 

Mr.  Tilton  Retires  and  Mr.  W.  M.  Ladd  Becomes  Pari 
Henry  Villard  and  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad 
The  Portland  Flouring  Mills  Company     . 
Mr.  Ladd's  Public  Spirit 


NER 


Page 
.X 
.XI 

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iq 

21 
21 
22 
23 
23 
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26 
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4^ 


\  // 


28102^ 


CONTENTS— Continued 


The  Crises  OF  1884  AND  1 8q3 

A  Definition  of  "Good  Times" 

East  and  West  Sides  Consolidate 

Mr.  Ladd's  Broad  Vision        .... 

Mr.  Ladd"s  Death  Occurs  Suddenly    . 

Mr.  Cookingham  Enters  Bank's  Service     . 

The  Spanish-American  War  .... 

The  Lewis  and  Clark  Centennial  E.xposition 

The  Panic  of  iqoj 

Bank  Is  Remodeled  to  Meet  Growing  Requirements 

Incorporated  As  Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank 

Bank  Secures  New  Home  in  Spalding  Buildinc; 

Statement  of  Condition  of  Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank  at  Close  of 
Business,  December  31,  i85q  . 

Statement  of  Condition  of  Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank  at  Close  of 
Business,  May  12,  iqiq     .... 

Mr.   W.  M.   Ladd   Retires   and  Mr.    Cookingham    Beco.mes 
President 


Page 
43 
4f 
45 
47 
50 
51 
51 
52 
53 
55 
57 
57 

60 
61 
63 


VIII 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Present  Home  of  Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank 

William  Sargent  Ladd 

An  Early  Day  View  of  Portland 

Beaver  Coins  of  Oregon's  Territorial  Days 

Birthplace  of  Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank 

First  Certificate  of  Deposit  and  Draft    . 

Some  Early  Checks 

First  Bank  Advertisement  Published  in  Oregon 
The  "Sierra  Nevada,"  a  Pioneer  Mail  Steamship 

Westward,  Ho  ! 

The  Lot  Whitcomb,  First  Steamboat  Built  in  Oregon 
Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank,  First  and  Stark  Streets  . 
Post  Office  with  Central  School  in  Bac:kground     . 
A  Palatial  Excursion  Boat  of  Early  Days 
"The  Veteran,"  a  Hand  Fire  Pump  of  Pioneer  Days 

Portland  in  1878 

Front  Street  Looking  North  from  Stark — about  1883 

View  from  the  I<Camm  Building,  Looking  South,  in  the 

Early  Bo's 

First  Northern  Pacific  Train  into  Portland    . 
Arches 'Erected  on  First  Street,  September  i  i,  1883 

Harbor  Scene  Looking   North   from   Foot  of   East 
Morrison  Street,  about  1883  .... 

Portland  Flouring  Mills  in  the  Early  8o's 
First  Bridge  Across   Willamette   River   at    Morrison 
Street,   1887      

Monument  Erected  to   Dead  of   the    Famous  "Second 
Oregon"  

Night  View  of  Lewis  and  Clark  E.xposition,  1905     . 

William  Mead  Ladd,  President,  iqo8  to  iqiq     . 

Edward  Cookingham,  President 

Portland  of  Today 

Showing  How  We've  Grown 


Page 
Frontispiece 

2 


3 
6 
8 

q 

10 

14 
18 
20 
21 
25 
27 
28 
iq 
32 
33 

34 
37 
37 

3Q 
41 

46 

52 
53 
5  b 
58 
62 
64 


IX 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

In  the  preparation  of  this  article,  reference 
was  had  to  such  works  as:  Wilson's  "Epochs 
of  American  History;"  Hart's  "Social  and 
Economic  Forces  in  American  History;" 
Hepburn's  "Contest  for  Sound  Money;" 
Gaston's  "The  Centennial  History  of  Oregon;" 
Bancroft's  "Chronicles  of  the  Builders;" 
Seligman's  "Crisis  of  iqoy  in  the  Light  of 
History;"  early  City  Directories,  and  files  of 
the   "Weekly"   and   "Daily  Oregonian." 

Special  thanks  are  also  due  to  Mr.  George 
H.  Himes,  of  the  Oregon  Historical  Society, 
for  valuable  information  and  assistance. 

If,  in  any  case,  specific  credit  should  be 
found  lacking,  the  omission  must  be  attributed 
to  an  oversight  rather  than  to  any  desire  on 
the  part  of  the  editor  ibr  an  unmerited  literary 
reputation. 

— Editor 


X 


INTRODUCTORY 

The  difficulty  one  finds  in  attempting  an  historical 
sketch  of  the  Lacld  &  Tilton  Bank  is  not  the  lack  of 
material  at  hand,  but  rather,  the  superabundance 
of  it;  not  so  much  what  to  say,  as  where  to  begin, 
and  where  to  leave  off. 

The  archives  of  the  institution,  so  carefully 
preserved  from  the  far-off  day  when  its  unpre- 
tentious door  was  first  opened  for  business  to  the 
present  time,  contain  much  that  might  interest, 
amuse  and  instruct  one  with  an  archeological  turn 
of  mind.  For,  with  all  due  respect  for  the  industry, 
zeal  and  earnestness  of  the  founders  of  the  bank 
and  their  contemporaries  of  pioneer  days,  it  is 
apparent  to  any  one  delving  into  these  records, 
that  the  feverish  haste,  so  characteristic  of  the 
present-day  business  man,  which  leaves  him  so 
little  time  for  attention  to  matters  outside  his 
particular  sphere,  was  no  trait  of  theirs.  Their 
calm  philosophy  of  life  is  reflected  in  the  bank's 
earJy  correspondence  files,  which  reveal  many  a 
sidelight  on  the  history  not  only  of  Oregon,  but 
also  of  the  entire  Pacific  Northwest,  with  which 
the  bank  was  so  closely  identified.  These  make 
interesting  reading. 

In  presenting  this  little  souvenir  of  our  Sixtieth 
Anniversary,  we  are  conscious  of  the  inadequacy 
of  these  brief  pages  to  do  justice  to  the  memory 
and  the  deeds  of  the  founders  of  this  bank,  of  w  hom 
it  might  truly  be  said:  "They  builded  better  than 
they  knew." 


M 


Sixty  Milestones  of  Progress 

Sixtieth    Anniversary 
Ladd    &    Tilt  on    Bank 

Sixty  years!  Not  a  very  long  time,  viewed  in  the  light 
of  the  aeons  of  ages  that  have  elapsed  since  the  world  began. 
An  insignificant  interval  in  the  thousands  of  years  from  the 
dawn  of  Creation  to  the  Christian  era.  A  short  link,  as  one 
might  say,  in  the  long  chain  of  centuries  stretching  back 
from  our  modern  civilization  to  the  ancient  dynasty  of  the 
Caesars.  Threescore  years!  Somewhat  less,  indeed,  than 
half  the  number  of  years  that  have  passed  since  that  fateful 
day  when  the  flag  of  our  beloved  country  was  unfurled  to 
the  breeze — its  starry  folds  reflecting  the  first  faint  vision 
of  a  world  democracy  that  was  to  rejoice  the  heart  of  man- 
kind! 

But,  brief  as  such  a  period  is,  comparatively,  when  re- 
viewed in  the  light  of  world  history,  it  is  a  long  time  in  the 
life  of  an  individual — or  of  a  business  enterprise.  How  few, 
alas!  are  left  among  us,  whose  minds  carry  them  back  to  the 
days  of  59 !  To  the  days  when  Portland  was  a  village  of  con- 
siderably less  than  3,000  inhabitants;  when  the  present  site 
of  its  imposing  business  blocks  and  majestic  skyscrapers  was 
a  part  of  the  forest  primeval ;  and  when,  instead  of  the  smoke 
ascending  from  its  railroads,  factories  and  shipyards,  and 
the  roar  and  din  of  traffic  attesting  its  industrial  activities, 
there  issued  thence  naught  but  the  curling  blue  smoke  from 
some  domestic  fireside  or  Indian  camp,  the  sound  of  the 
woodsman's  axe,  the  roar  of  the  mountain  lion,  or  the  raucous 
cries  of  his  fellows  of  the  wild,  and,  as  yet,  almost  trackless 
forest. 

Sixty  years!  A  very  considerable  period,  indeed,  if  we 
measure  it  by  the  events  that  loom  as  so  many  important 

One 


SIXTY      M  ILESTONES 


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W  illiam  Sargent  LaJJ,  Foundtr  LaJd  &    I  illon  Bank 

epochs  in  each  decade  of  this  golden  cycle  of  the  world's 
progress.  What  marvelous  achievements  in  the  political, 
social,  scientific  and  commercial  life  of  the  nation  it  has  wit- 
nessed !  The  dawn  of  this  period  saw  the  beginning  and  the 
end  of  the  world's  greatest  civil  war;  heard  the  shackles  fall 
from  4,000,000  slaves;  and  then,  when  "the  great  battle  of 


Two 


L  A  D  D     &     T  I  L  T  O  N      BANK 

human  rights  and  American  unity"  was  ended,  this  era  saw 
the  Nation  go  steadily  forward  with  ever  quickening  strides 
until  in  our  own  day,  in  the  providence  of  God,  its  great 
moral  influence,  virile  manhood  and  immeasureahle  resources 
of  every  description,  made  it  the  deciding  factor  in  the  great 
World-War  for  human  liberty — the  powerful  and  victorious 
champion  of  the  principle  that  right  and  not  might  shall 
govern  the  affairs  of  all  nations,  whether  great  or  small. 


An  Early  Day  View  of  Portland 

During  these  sixty  years  the  population  ot  the  United 
States  has  more  than  trebled,  and  its  wealth  has  multiplied 
twelve  times.  Within  this  period  sixteen  states,  w  ith  an  area 
of  i,88q,ioi  square  miles,  or  a  trifle  more  than  one-half  the 
domain  of  the  entire  country,  ha\e  been  admitted  to  the 
Union;  while  the  whole  territory  west  of  the  Missouri  ri\er — 
which  at  the  time  of  the  organization  of  this  bank  constituted 
the  western  frontier — had  become  so  well  settled,  as  far  back 


Three 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

as  twenty  years  ago,  that  the  only  frontier  then  in  evidence 
was  the  Pacific  ocean.  These  years  have  seen  farm  and  fac- 
tory machinery  brought  by  successive  steps  to  the  highest 
degree  of  perfection.  They  have  witnessed  the  great  indus- 
trial development  that  divided  a  nation  of  farmers  into  a 
variety  of  occupations  in  which  farming  still  has  an  honored 
place,  but  one  by  no  means  so  conspicuous.  In  the  course  of 
these  years  we  have  seen  the  railroads  of  the  country,  which 
in  i860  aggregated  30,626  miles,  develop  the  stupendous 
proportions  of  262,218  miles. 

Establishment  of  National 
Banking  System 

It  is  to  this  period,  too,  that  we  owe  the  establishment  of 
our  national  banking  system.  For,  although  various  systems 
of  a  more  or  less  experimental  character,  including  the  First 
and  Second  Banks  of  the  United  States,  had  been  in  operation 
for  many  years,  it  was  not  until  1863  that  Congress,  on  the 
recommendation  of  Mr.  Chase,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, passed  a  law  creating  a  national  banking  system  "based 
substantially  upon  the  'free  banking'  system  originated  in 
New  York  in  1838."  Perhaps  no  other  question,  if  we  exclude 
the  slavery  question,  has  more  agitated  the  minds  of  our 
nation's  law-makers  than  has  that  of  the  establishment  of  a 
national  banking  system.  From  the  days  of  Andrew  Jackson, 
who  denounced  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  as  "an  un- 
necessary, useless,  expensive,  un-American  monopoly,  always 
hostile  to  the  interests  of  the  people,  and  possibly  dangerous 
to  the  government  as  well,"  every  attempt  to  extend  the 
privileges  of  banking  institutions,  and  widen  their  sphere  of 
usefulness,  has  been  regarded  with  the  utmost  suspicion  and 
attended  by  all  manner  of  opposition.     And,  although  the 

Four 


L  A  D  D     &     T  I  L  T  O  N      BANK 

banking  law  of  1863  was  none  too  liberal  in  its  provisions, 
an  Act  the  following  year  had  the  effect  of  thoroughly  revis- 
ing the  measure  first  adopted.  In  its  revised  form  "it  helped 
the  go\ernment  very  much  while  the  war  lasted,  and  it 
proved  the  foundation  of  an  admirable  financial  system." 
By  this  Act  a  new  Treasury  bureau  was  created,  under  a 
Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  whom  it  "authorized  to  permit 
the  establishment,  for  a  term  not  exceeding  twenty  years,  of 
banking  associations  consisting  of  not  less  than  five  persons, 
with  a  minimum  capital,  except  in  small  places,  of  one  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars.  Such  associations  were  required  to 
deposit  with  the  Treasury  Department,  United  States  bonds 
to  the  extent  of  at  least  one-third  their  capital,  for  which 
there  should  be  issued  to  them  circulating  notes  in  amount 
equal  to  ninety  per  cent  of  the  market  value  of  their  bonds, 
but  not  beyond  ninety  per  cent  of  the  par  value  of  such 
bonds.  The  issue  of  currency  made  in  this  manner  was  not 
to  exceed  three  hundred  millions,  that  amount  to  be  appor- 
tioned among  the  States  according  to  population  and  bank- 
ing capital.  It  was  intended  that  state  banks  should  take 
advantage  of  these  Acts  to  obtain  national  issues;  but  very 
few  o'f  them  did  so  until  after  the  passage  of  the  Act  of 
March  3,  1865,  which  put  a  tax  of  ten  per  cent  on  their  cir- 
culation. After  that,  hundreds  of  state  banks  were  at  once 
converted  into  national  banks,  and  national  bank  notes 
superseded  all  others." 

With  the  return  to  normal  conditions  (1870- 1876),  there 
was  a  revival  of  banking  legislation.  The  country  was  rapidly 
outgrowing  the  limitations  of  the  so-called  "greenbacks." 
The  Act  of  July  20,  1870,  authorizing  the  organization  of 
national  gold  banks,  was  followed  during  the  succeeding  two 
decades  by  various  amendments  and  new  Acts,  through 
which  it  was  sought  to  ease  the  financial  strain  that  periodi- 
cally threatened  disaster  to  the  country.     It  early  became 

Five 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

apparent,  howexer,  to  students  of  economics,  that  a  radical 
change  in  the  banking  system — something  that  would  afford 
greater  elasticity  than  the  existing  system  was  capable  of — 
was  imperati\ely  needed.  Three  periods  of  extreme  financial 
depression  emphasized  this  need.  The  Aldrich-Vreeland  Act 
remedied  to  a  great  extent  the  conditions  that  brought  about 
the  panic  of  iqc/,  when  the  people  of  Portland  and  other  coast 
cities  were  put  to  the  necessity  of  accepting  clearing  house  cer- 
tificates in  lieu  of  gold,  which  they  so  long  had  been  accustomed 
to  receive  from  their  banks.  At  length,  as  the  outgrowth  of  all 
these  experiments  and  experiences  of  past  years,  there  was 
evoK'ed  the  brilliant  scheme  of  the  Federal  Reserve  System-. 

The  Federal  Reserve  System 

The  Federal  Reserve  System  has  no  more  staunch  advo- 
cate than  Mr.  Edward  Cookingham,  present  executive  head 
of  the  Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank,  v^ho  gave  much  time  to  a  pains- 
taking, critical  analysis  of  the  economic  principles  underlying 
its  construction.  Being  thoroughly  con\inced  that  this  ex- 
cellent system  embodies  the  soundest  deductions  which 
many  years  of  banking  legislation  have  adduced,  and  that  it 
affords  every  practicable  safeguard  against  the  recurrence  of 
panics  in  the  future,  application  was  made  in  November,  iqi  7, 
for  the  bank's  admission  to  membership.  To  Ladd  &i  Tilton 
Bank  belongs  the  distinction  of  being  at  present  the  largest 
so-called  "state"  bank  in  the  Twelfth  District  of  the  Federal 
Reserve  System,  of  which  San  Francisco  is  the  headquarters . 


BEAVER  COINS  OF  OREGONS  TERRITORIAL  DAI  S 
Collection  of  Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank 
Six 


L  A  D  D     &     T  I  L  T  O  N      BANK 

The  foregoing  are  some  of  the  important  events — the 
ones  chiefly  relating  to  our  subject — which  point  to  the 
period  beginning  with  the  establishment  of  the  Ladd  & 
Tilton  Bank,  and  included  within  the  era  of  its  growth,  as 
the  most  progressive  age  in  the  history  of  the  country. 

Copartnership  Origin  of  Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank 

Sometime  in  1S53,  three  years  after  his  arrival  in 
Portland,  Mr.  William  S.  Ladd,  who  by  his  industry,  tact 
and  inherent  business  ability,  had  already  attained  an 
enviable  standing  in  the  pioneer  community,  began  the 
erection  of  the  first  brick  building  in  Portland.  It  was  a 
small,  one-story  structure,  near  the  corner  of  Front  and 
Stark  streets,  '"opposite  the  Ferry  Landing,""  as  the  adver- 
tisements of  that  day  were  wont  to  proclaim,  lliis  building 
served  for  a  number  of  years  to  house  the  mercantile  business 
in  which  Messrs.  Ladd  &  Tilton  were  engaged,  prior  to  the 
organization  of  the  bank,  under  the  firm  name  of  Ladd  & 
Tilton.  Known  as  105  Front  street,  the  structure  is  still 
in  existence,  occupied  by  one  of  the  numerous  commission 
houses  located  in  that  quarter  of  the  city.  In  1857  a  second 
story  *was  added  to  the  structure ;  and  it  was  here,  in  an  upper 
room,  on  June  ist,  1859,  that  Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank  had 
its  origin  in  a  copartnership  entered  into  by  William  S. 
Ladd  and  Charles  E.  Tilton,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000. 

When  these  gentlemen  decided  to  engage  in  the  banking 
business,  there  appears  to  ha\e  been  some  indecision  relatixe 
to  a  name  for  the  new  enterprise.  It  is  noticeable  that  the 
bank's  letter  sheets — which  like  those  of  many  other  local 
concerns  at  a  period  when  job-printing  w as  in  its  infancy  on 
this  coast,  were  just  plain  sheets  of  writing  paper,  unadorned 
by  the  engraver"s  art — are  variously  headed,    in  the  neat 


•A  third  story  was  added   in  lalcr  years. 

Seven 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

longhand  writing  of  Mr.  Ladd  himself:  "Banking  Office  of 
Ladd  &  Tilton;'"  "Office  Ladd  &  Tilton,  Bankers;"  "Banking 
House  of  Ladd  &  Tilton;"  and  "Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank  of 
Oregon."  But,  although  the  first  printed  checks  and  drafts 
bore  the  title  "Ladd  &'  Tilton  Bank  of  Oregon,"  it  was  not 
long  until  the  title  of  "Ladd'6^  Tilton,  Bankers" — by  which 
from  the  beginning  all  their  correspondents  were  in  the  habit 
of  addressing  them — was  definitely  adopted. 

The  Partners  and  Their  Policy 


Birthplace'of 
Ladd  &  Tilton 
Bank 


Eight 


Between  Mr.  Ladd  and  Mr.  Tilton,  both  of  whom  had 
migrated  from  the  same  part  of  New  England,  there  existed 
that  endearing  and  enduring  friendship,  which  boys  raised 
together  and  growing  to  manhood  in  companionship,  are  likely 
to   experience  throughout  the   later  periods  of  their  lives. 

Mr.  Ladd  was,  from  the 
fi  r  s  t ,  the  active  manager 
of  the  bank's  business  in 
Portland ;  while  his  partner, 
Mr.  Tilton,  who  had  other 
interests  in  San  Francisco, 
and  maintained  his  resi- 
dence there,  kept  in  touch 
with  its  affairs  by  corres- 
pondence. In  these  cir- 
cumstances, as  may  be  im- 
agined, the  letters  that 
passed  between  the  two 
men,  were,  quite  naturally, 
intimate  and  voluminous. 
Here  and  there  throughout 
this  mass  of  correspon- 
dence,  so  painstakingly 
conducted  in  the  longhand 


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SIXTY      MILESTONES 


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L  A  D  D     &     T  I  L 1  O  N      BANK 

method  of  that  day,  one  may  easily  discern  the  high  am- 
bitions and  lofty  ideals  by  which  these  two  young  men 
were  inspired  in  the  establishment  of  an  enterprise  that 
was  destined  to  prove  a  powerful  factor  in  the  development 
of  Portland  and  of  Oregon.  In  one  of  the  first  of  these  let- 
ters, dated  at  San  Francisco,  just  two  weeks  after  the  open- 
ing of  the  bank,  Mr.  Tilton  gives  expression  to  the  follow- 
ing sentim.ent : 

Let  us  take  a  safe  and  straight  course  in  all  our  busines^ 
dealings.  Tell  a  man  what  we  can  do,  and  will  do;  tell 
it  to  him  after  our  minds  are  fully  made  up,  and  then 
stick  to  it!  Such  a  policy  appeals  to  every  one,  and  makes 
friends;  and,  as  we  are  now  starting  in  the  banking 
business,  let  us  try  to  gain  this  reputation  for  the  bank. 
We  must  be  prompt  in  meeting  every  obligation — wc 
must  be  jealous  of  our  credit  at  home  and  abroad.  It  is 
a  pleasure  to  do  business  with  a  man  who  is  cautious 
of  his  credit,  but  very  disagreeable  to  have  relations 
with  one  who  is  slack  and  careless  in  this  respect.  These 
are  matters,  I  think,  for  us  to  regard  with  seriousness, 
and  to  observe  with  greatest  care  at  this  time.  You 
know  how  easy  it  is  to  create  an  impression,  either 
favorable  or  otherwise,  at  the  start.  And  people  are 
governed  largely  by  their  first  impressions. 

Many  excerpts  of  a  like  character  might  be  produced, 
but  the  foregoing  amply  illustrates  how  thoroughly  the 
founders  of  this  bank  recognized  the  justice  and  wisdom  of 
fair  dealing,  and  how  highly  they  valued  character,  an 
element  that  is  \ital  in  any  business  deserving  of  success, 
but  which  is  the  very  essence  of  banking — the  keystone  of 
its  entire  structure.  That  their  insistence  on  these  principles 
has  been  faithfully  observed  throughout  the  sixty  years  of 
the  bank's  existence,  is  attested  by  the  manner  in  which  the 
institution  has  withstood  the  disastrous  financial  storms  that 
have  periodically  swept  the  country;  in  the  confidence 
manifested  by  its  myriad  depositors  in  the  security  it  affords 
them,  and  in  the  nation-wide  reputation  it  has  achieved, 
through  consistent  adherence  to  the  policy  prescribed  in 
Mr.  Tilton's  letter. 

EUien 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

Indian  Troubles  Retard  Setdement 

In  January,  iSto,  the  school  clerk  for  this  district, 
Mr.  J.  F.  McCoy,  published  a  census  showing  the  number 
of  inhabitants  in  the  city  and  children  in  the  district  as 
follows : 

Males,  over  21  years iit>3 

Females,  over  21  years 670 

Males,  under  21  y  ars 515 

Females,  under  21  years 526 

Colored  Males 10 

Colored  Females b 

Chinese  Males 23 

Chinese  Females 4 

Total xqij 

Scholars  in  District 716 

Many  causes  appear  to  have  combined  in  checking  the 
growth  and  retarding  the  commercial  development  of 
Portland  in  the  late  '50s.  Chief  among  these  were  the 
Indian  troubles,  which  were  a  source  of  great  anxiety, 
operating  to  stem  the  tide  of  immigration.  In  this  con- 
nection, an  item  that  appeared  in  the  Oregonian,  as  late  as 
August  lb,  1864,  is  of  interest: 

Mr.  W.  S.  Ladd  recei\'ed  a  private  letter  from  Mr. 
Tilton  yesterday  dated  at  Denver,  Colorado,  giving 
some  accounts  of  the  Indian  troubles  on  the  Plains. 
The  last  coach  that  had  arrived  from  the  East  passed 
34  dead  bodies  of  white  men,  numbered  on  the  roadside 
by  the  driver,  and  all  communication  had  ceased.  Mr. 
Tilton  designed  coming  to  Portland  via  Salt  Lake,  Boise 
and  Walla  Walla. 

But,  while  sporadic  incidents  of  this  character  continued 
to  occur  for  many  years,  nevertheless,  with  the  virtual  cessa- 
tion of  hostilities  in  185b,  immigration  was  resumed,  and 
despite  the  fact  that  large  numbers  of  people  were  attracted 
to  the  mining  region  east  of  the  Cascade  mountains,  and  that 

Twelve 


LAD  D^&    TILTON      BANK 

many  others  seemed  bent  on  returning  to  the  Atlantic 
states,  the  population  of  Portland  continued  to  increase 
steadily,  if  slowly,  until  according  to  the  first  city  directory, 
which  appeared  in  1863,  the  official  census  showed  an 
increase  of  11 40,  or  a  total  population  of  4057.  Says  the 
compiler ; 

Even  this  number,  however,  has  been  increased  by  the 
numerous  arrivals  since  the  foregoing  census  was  taken, 
and  we  may  safely  estimate  the  population  at  present  as 
being  fully  five  thousand."' 

And  an  issue  of  the  Oregonian,  about  the  same  time,  has 
this  to  say  regarding  the  growth  of  the  future   metropolis: 

Improvements  of  all  kinds  are  constantly  and  rapidly  go- 
ing on;  buildings  going  up  in  all  parts  of  the  city;  streets 
graded  and  planked;  wharfs  and  warehouses  stretching 
their  gigantic  proportions  along  the  levees,  and  a  general 
thrift  and  busy  hum  greets  the  ear  or  attracts  the  atten- 
tion of  a  stranger  on  every  street  and  corner.  Hurrah  for 
Portland,  say  we. 

From  which  it  appears  that  the  Portland  "booster" 
is  entitled  to  full  membership  in  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Asso- 
ciation. 

Simple  Annah  of  Early  Days 

In  the  same  directory,  under  the  heading:  "Chronological 
History  of  Principal  Events,"  appears  a  lengthy  diary  of 
business  and  social  affairs  from  which  we  select  the  following: 

Jan.  I  5 — The  merchants  and  business  men  of  the  city 
sign  an  agreement  to  take  legal  tender  notes  only  at 
their  current  value  in  San  Francisco. 

April  I  — 171  persons  arc  reported  to  have  taken  their 
departure  for  the  mining  regions  of  Eastern  Oregon. 

April  13 — Departure  of  the  steamer  "Brother 
Jonathan"  for  San  Francisco,  with  a  cargo  consisting 
of  1547  boxes  of  Apples,  8q  sacks  Beans,  17  boxes  Eggs, 
22  kegs  Lard,  378  Hides,  2  bales  Wool,  q  cases  Lard, 
40  sacks  Flour,  and  $21,557  in  specie. 

Thirteen 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

May  15 — Arrival  of  the  bark  "W.  A.  Banks,"  163  days 
from  New  York.  First  meeting  of  the  Ladies  of  Portland 
in  behalf  of  the  Sanitary  Aid  Fund. 

June  25 — Departure  of  the  steamer  '"Sierra  Nevada" 
for  San  Francisco,  with  a  treasure  shipment  of  $228,000, 
together  with  68q6  pounds  Wool  and  100  Furs. 

July  1 2 — Grand  torchlight  procession  in  honor  of  the 
reception  of  the  news  of  the  fall  of  V'ickbsurg.  (Which 
had  occurred  8  days  before.) 

Sept.  25 — Departure  of  the  steamer  "Brother 
Jonathan"  for  San  Francisco  with  the  following  shipment 
of  treasure:  Wells  Fargo  &l  Co.,  $210,000;  Ladd  & 
Tilton,  $17,200;  Oregon  Steam  Navigation  Co.,  $7,q8o; 
A.  Cohn  &  Co.,  $7,000;  Cohen,  Lyon  &  Co.,  $6,500; 
Knapp,  Burrell  &  Co.,  $3,000;  total,  $315,780.  In 
addition  to  the  foregoing  there  was  a  large  amount  of 
gold  dust  in  the  hands  of  the  passengers.  The  steamer 
also  had  as  freight,  500  boxes  Apples,  40  packages  Butter 
and  Eggs,  22  bales  Wool,  1000  dry  Hides,  10  bundles 
Sheep  Skins,  and  40  Horses. 

Oct.  I — 36,000  pounds  wire  for  the  Oregon  8j  California 
Telegraph  Line  arrived. 

Oct.  iq — The  tower  on  the  new  Presbyterian  Church 
on  Washington  Street,  completed.  The  spire  is  the 
highest  in  the  State,  being  1 30  feet  high. 

This  last  item  refers  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which, 
for  many  years,  stood  on  the  corner  of  Washington  and 
Third  streets — now  occupied  by  the  Spalding  building,  the 
present  home  of  Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank. 

These  simple  annals  suggest  the  primiti\e  conditions  that 
prevailed   here,    about    the    date    of  the   establishment   of 


I'OjrrT.ATSD 


— ■  Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank,  the 

=:-='  first  financial  institution 

Banking,  Collei^lioii,  ami  Exchange,  j^  .^^  ,,33^  ^^^^^^  j.^^^.^ 

lXt^D    &   TILTOI^^;'  as  the  Pacific  Northwest, 

_^            BANKERS,  embracing  the  states  of 

"TTTII.T,  punhn".'  c^rii|ji:ii.s  uf  l).i.ij>it  uihI  <.(Iili- li.ic 

wiii:!:n'a;;nl:^';S;:.or                            ,  Oregon,    Washington, 

Messrs.  Uiincau,  sliorman  &,  Co.,  ,N'i;vv  Yc.ik.  '  t    i     1          w  r       .             \  A 

^  Messrs.  Aisop  &  Co.,  San  i-r»ii<.iscl.  Iciaho,  vVestem  Montana 

Mouej  received  on  rtepusit.  K.iiiral  or  special. 

iSwr"HL":;;lnr*.r"'"''''^''''''''^'-        ,  and  Alaska,  with  an  area 

All  busiues.s  pLiUiiuinK  lo  lUukiug  proiuptlr  Httendcd  to. 

t.  iurUa..d.j»iyi..,t,isov-jji:-ir of  1 , 3  56, }  3 8  SQuarc  milcs. 


First  Banl<  Advertisement  Published  in  Oregon       or     OVCr      OnC-third      the 
Fourteen 


LADD     &     TILTON      BANK 

present  area  of  the  United  States.  Reading  them,  one 
appreciates  the  difficulties  under  which  those  pioneer 
bankers  labored.  It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  introduce 
other  evidence,  of  w  hich  the  bank's  letter  files  furnish  plenty, 
indicating  how  they  were  hampered  in  the  matter  of  mail 
service. 

Shipments  of  Money  and  '^High  Cosr 
of  Exchange 

The  following  letter,  addressed  to  an  insurance  agency 

in  New  York,  shows  not  only  the  delays  to  which  the  mails 

were  subject,  but  also  the  "high  cost"  of  exchange  at  this 

period : 

Portland,  Oregon 
20th  June,  i85q 
Messrs.  Howland  &l  Aspinwall, 

New  York. 
Gentlemen: 

Your  favors  of  Nov.  20th  and  Dec.  bth,  came  to  hand 
ist  of  Feb'y  last.  Circumstances  were  such  that  we  did 
not  commence  our  business  so  soon  as  was  anticipated, 
when  our  Mr.  Tilton  called  on  you  last  October.  We 
commenced  business  on  the  ist  inst.  and  find  that  our 
r'emittanccs  to  San  Francisco  will  be  about  fifty  to  sixty 
thousand  dollars  per  month.  We  are  forced  to  purchase 
Government  Drafts  for  our  remittances,  for  the  reason 
the  Express  Companies  have  a  messenger  on  each  steamer, 
and  these  messengers  have  their  own  safes  and  carry 
their  own  coin,  thereby  paying  no  freight,  if  they  insure. 
The  express  Companies — -Wells  Fargo  and  Freeman  & 
Co. — sell  exchange  at  >2  %  to  34%  premium.  1  n  the  event 
we  ship  coin  and  draw  against  it,  we  are  compelled  to  pay 
freight,  K%,  and  insurance,  ^s^ci,  making  the  expense 
on  our  shipment  J-8%  For  this  reason  we  are  compelled 
to  purchase  Government  paper,  as  above  stated.  In  the 
event  we  ship  Treasury,  we  will  avail  ourselves  to  insure 
through  you,  as  advised. 

Your  obt.  svts., 

Ladd  &  Tilton. 

/■"i//cfn 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

We  wonder  what  a  present-day  client  would  think  of  a 
statement  like  the  following: 

Portland,  Oregon 
August  5,  i85q 
E.  M.  Barnum,  Esq  , 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Dear  Sir: 

Below  please  find  statement  for  money  collected  from 
Mr.  Baker,  on  your  account,  by  his  note  due  Aug.  ist: 


Amt.  of  note  due  Aug.  ist      .      .  $500.00 

Int.  6  mo's  at  10%  per  annum    .  25.00 

To  amt.  sent  S.  A.  Clarke,  Salem  100.00 

Comm.  for  CoUet'g  &  Frd'g  .      .  10.00 
To  our  S.  D.  No.    n    on    Messrs. 

Duncan,  Sherman  Sj  Co.     .      .  3qq.o4 

Exchange  on  same  at  4%       .      .  i5q6 


$525.00 


525.00 


Enclosed  you  will  find  our  Draft  No.    21,   as  above, 
which  we  trust  will  be  satisfactory. 

Your  obt.  svts., 

Ladd  &l  Tilton. 


Character  the  Basis  of  Security 

But  if  the  rate  of  exchange  and  the  charge  for  making 
collections  appear  to  he  high,  the  rate  of  interest  which  the 
banker  had  to  pay  on  deposits  was  by  no  means  small — nor, 
so  far  as  appears,  in  any  way  limited  by  legal  enactment. 
These  rates  ranged  all  the  way  from  ten  to  twenty  per  cent, 
per  annum,  and  from  one  and  one-half  to  two  and  one-half 
per  cent,  per  month,  during  the  war  period.  And  although 
the  banker  must  have  had  to  charge  his  clients  a  still  higher 
rate  of  interest,  there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any 

Sixlt-L-n 


LADD     &     TILTON      BANK 

lack  of  borrowers.  In  a  country  so  unsettled,  and  with  a 
population  so  lately  arrived  on  the  scene,  it  is  hard  to 
imagine  how  these  borrowers  could  ha\e  qualified  as  such, 
when  subjected  to  the  scrutiny  of  the  modern  methods 
which  guard  the  credit  facilities  of  our  banks,  while  at  the 
same  time  protecting  the  interests  of  depositors.  In  truth, 
they  could  not  have  done  so.  Security,  unless  it  rests  upon 
something  more  substantial  than  mere  worldly  possessions, 
is  a  fickle  thing,  to  be  trusted  reservedly.  These  men,  many 
of  them,  had  little  to  offer  in  the  way  of  collateral  security, 
but  they  had  that  which  is  the  greatest  of  all  security — 
character.  And  the  banker  of  that  day  had  to  be  a  man  of 
rare  psychological  powers  of  discernment,  prudent  judgment, 
and  faith  in  his  fellowman.  Had  not  Messrs.  Ladd  &  Tilton 
possessed  this  triune  gift,  we  should  not  now  be  celebrating 
the  sixtieth  anniversary  of  the  business  they  established  and 
which,  as  time  wears  on,  will  be  for  them  a  monument  more 
enduring  than  any  chiseled  from  stone. 

Mail  Delivery  and  Other  Transportation 
Handicaps 

In  a  subsequent  letter  to  Mr.  Barnum,  dated  November 
24,  we  find  this  reference  to  the  above  statement:  "We 
expected  to  have  received  an  acknowledgment  from  you  of 
the  receipt  of  ours  of  the  5th  August  last,  but  the  mail  from 
the  States  failed  to  connect." 

The  average  time  required  for  the  transmission  of  a  letter 
from  Portland  to  New  York,  under  favorable  circumstances, 
appears  to  have  been  from  40  to  45  days;  while  anywhere 
from  six  to  nine  days,  was  the  usual  time  between  Portland 
and   San  Francisco.     There   were   two  mail   routes   to  the 

Seventeen 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 


The  "'Sierra  Nevada."  a  pioneer  mail  steamship 


East.  One  was  by  steamer,  \ia  San  Francisco  to  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama,  thence  by  rail  to  the  Atlantic  and 
by  steamer  to  New  York;  the  other  was  overland,  by  "pony 
express"  to  the  Missouri  river,  and  thence  by  rail  to  the 
Atlantic  states.  Between  the  dangers  of  shipwreck  and  fire 
on  the  one  hand,  and  Indians  and  highwaymen  on  the  other, 
merchants  frequently  took  the  precaution  of  using  both 
routes  in  transmitting  important  papers  and  ad\  ices. 

Their  remoteness  from  the  financial  centers  of  the  East; 
the  insecurity  of  remittances  and  the  duplication  of  advices 
in  order  to  make  certain  of  delivery;  their  dependence  upon 
the  slow  m.ethods  of  transportation  by  steamer  and  overland 
express — these  constitute  a  few  of  the  handicaps  under 
which  the  stout-hearted  men  of  that  day,  "cast  in  the  mould 
of  men  of  daring,  sagacity,  and  resource,  were  winning  the 
western  wilderness  for  civilization." 


Eighteen 


L  A  D  D     iSi      r  1  L  r  O  N      BANK 

The  Bank  Increases  Its  Capital  Stock 

But  let  us  return  to  the  little  brick  building  near  the 
corner  of  Front  and  Stark  streets,  and  see  how  the  infant 
banking  enterprise  prospers.  In  a  letter  to  his  partner, 
dated  June  6th,  1859,  one  week  after  the  bank  opened, 
Mr.  Ladd  gives  a  summary  of  the  few  transactions — hardly 
worthy  to  be  set  down  here — up  to  that  date.  But  there  is 
a  ring  of  youthful  pride  and  enthusiasm  in  the  closing  lines 
of  the  letter  that  is  indicative  of  high  hopes  and  a  deter- 
mination to  succeed,  for  he  says: 

We  have  a  fine  office.  If  you  think  best  to  buy  a  clock, 
you  might  do  so.  If  you  buy  any,  buy  a  good  one.  When 
will  you  be  up?     We  have  $10,000  deposited  with  us! 

By  the  close  of  the  year  their  balance  sheet  showed 
deposits  of  $49,891 .62 ;  and  at  the  close  of  business,  December 
31,  1 86 1,  these  had  increased  to  the  considerable  sum  of 
$1 1 3,344.36.  So  encouraging  were  the  bank's  prospects  that, 
two  years  after  its  organization,  Mr.  Stephen  Mead  was 
admitted  to  partnership  in  it,  and  the  capital  stock  was 
increased  to  $150,000.00. 

Civil  War  Days 

The  Civil  War  was  too  far  away  to  affect  greatly  the 
spirits  of  the  Oregonians,  who,  though  they  manifested  a 
fine  patriotic  interest  in  the  success  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment's efforts  to  put  down  the  rebellion,  were  themselves 
engaged  in  such  a  fierce  encounter  with  the  rough  forces  of 
Nature,  in  their  self-imposed  task  of  developing  the  state's 
resources,  that  they  experienced  none  of  the  nerve-racking 
anxieties  which  those  closer  to  the  scene  of  the  great  conflict, 
and  within  sound  of  its  martial  clamor,  might  bz  expected 

Nineteen 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

to  feel.  But,  far  as  they  were  removed  from  it,  its  dread 
reality  was  present  to  them  in  many  ways.  And  if  the  people 
in  the  East  felt  the  stagnating  effects  of  the  war,  the  people 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  too,  were  made  to  feel  keenly  the  delay 
in  the  consummation  of  cherished  plans  for  a  better  mode  of 
transportation. 


Westward.  Ho! 


And  they  realized  it  in  other  ways.  It  appears  they  had 
in  those  days  something  akin  to  the  Liberty  Loan  drives, 
with  which  the  children  of  this  generation  have  become  so 
familiar.     The  Oregonian  of  September  20,  1864,  says: 

We  took  a  look  at  the  "greenbacks"  in  Ladd  &  Tilton's 
bank  yesterday,  and  find  that  Uncle  Sam  deals  in  a 
multiplicity  of  accounts,  of  which  the  currency  is  the 
representative.  The  notes  with  coupons  attached  are 
very  interesting.  One  might  not  understand  their 
operation  at  a  glance,  but  they  bear  upon  their  face  the 
directions  in  regard  to  the  coupons.  The  compound 
notes  to  which  our  attention  was  particularly  directed, 
run  for  three  years,  and  bear  interest,  which  is  to  be 
compounded  semi-annually,  but  payable  only  upon 
maturity.  On  the  back  of  each  note  is  printed  its  value 
for  every  six  months  after  the  date  of  its  issue.  Thus, 
the  one  we  examined  was  for  $100  which,  at  the  end  of 
three  years,  would  be  worth  $iiq.70.  The  notes  are 
engraved  and  printed  in  the  U.  S.  Treasury  department, 
and  are  beautiful  specimens  of  the  engraver's  art. 


Twenty 


LADD     &     TILTON      BANK 


East  Side  Shipyard 

There  was  a  shipyard   here,  too,  as  the  following  item 
from  the  same  source  will  recall : 

Business  appears  active  at  the  shipyard  in  East 
Portland,  and  the  signs  indicate  a  reaction  in  some 
portions  of  our  river  trade  by  the  coming  fall.  A  new 
sloop  was  launched  a  few  days  since,  and  Captain  Turn- 
bull's  new  steamer  is  getting  well  on  the  ways  for  rapid 
completion. 


j.^8a^>yP:  ^  _ 


The  Lot  Whitcomb,  First  Steamboat  Built  in  Oregon 

And   the   ubiquitous    "speeder"    was   here,    even   then 
A  special  ordinance,  No.  53,  evidently  designed  to  curb  his 
career,  r,eads: 

Ordained:  that  any  person  or  persons  riding  or  driving 
at  a  furious  rate,  thereby  endangering  the  lives  of  persons 
on  any  of  the  streets  or  cross  streets  lying  between  the 
Willamette  river  and  Fourth  street,  shall  be  fined  in  any 
sum  not  less  than  five  dollars,  or  more  than  twenty,  to  be 
recovered  on  suit  before  the  City  Recorder. 

The  Bank  Moves  to  New  Quarters 

Glancing  over  the  page-and-a-half  of  advertisements  in 
the  Oregonian  of  that  day,  one  notes  that  three  other  banks 
have  appeared  on  the  scene — the  First  National  Bank  of 
Portland,  the   Bank   of  British   Columbia,    and   the  East 


Tuenty-one 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

Portland  Savings  &  Loan  Bank.  .Ah,  ha!  Competition! 
Let's  hurry  around  to  Front  and  Stark  streets  and  see 
what — but  wait! 

Turning  to  the  "City  News"  column  of  the  Oregonian, 

we  read: 

Moving  Into  New  Quarters — Nlessrs.  Ladd  &  Tilton 
have  fitted  up  a  new  Banking  Office  in  the  building 
comer  of  Stark  arxl  Front  streets,  and  conunenced 
moving  yesterday.     The  new  quarters  will  be  decidedly 

: "  '     -    --  --—   -■-    '  -'rmer  location,  di^jensing 

.airs  in  the  transaction  of 
business.  1.-^;  ne^.y  saics  are  being  lowered  through 
the  floor  into  the  store  of  Messrs.  \  lillard  &  \'an  Schuwer, 
and  attracted  considerable  comment  on  the  early  day 
system  of  making  deposits  i-  P'^*'--d  when  safes  were 
scarce,  and  ver>'  unsafe  at  :  g  to  memor\'  the 

time  when  r      ;'     -        :  cash  away  in 

hollou"j.-are  /        _  sfety.     Those 

wer-    -  -ays  for  e\.er\c  a  retired 

mere.'—.:    .:    -ctive    business    ......    ..,       .Ing    here. 

remembers  them  with  pleasure.     We  are  none  the  less 
r              us  to-day.       "        i'    :"'      dially  there  are  as 
..     :.5  to  one  to  ; 

So  that's  it!  Moving  into  new  quarters!  In  those  far- 
off  days,  leading,  as  it  does  today,  in  progressiveness — 
anticipating  then  as  it  does  today,  the  requirements  of  a 
cliertele  tha:  ^        :es  convenience  and  service. 

Springtime  and  Peace 

It  '^  :!-e  spring  of  1S65.  and  there  is  great  rejoicing  in 
PortIar.„,  c-s  e\  er\"vv  here  throughout  the  Northern  states, 
for  Lee  has  surrendered  his  tattered  army  to  Grant  at 
Appomattox.  "The  South'*  in  the  words  of  Woodrow 
Wilson,  "had  throun  her  life  into  the  scales,  and  lost  it; 
the  Nort:  .er  great  resources  to  the  utmost; 

there  ten  e.  nary  devotion  and  heroism  and 

master.  n  sides:  and  the  war  was  over." 


TmerOy-ttBo 


LADD    &■     TILTON      BANK 

Portland  Prospers 

For  Portland  it  was  the  beginning  of  an  era  of  great 
prosperity.  The  erstwhile  frontier  settlement  was  rapidly 
assuming  the  proportions  and  the  airs  of  a  real  city.  Gas 
lamps  adorned  its  street  corners,  a  telegraph  line,  but 
recently  connected  up,  facilitated  communication  with  the 
East,  via  San  Francisco;  the  Oregon  Iron  Company  with  a 
capital  of  $500,000.00  had  been  organized;  the  Willamette 
Valley  Railroad — these,  and  many  other  projected  enter- 
prises, ga\e  intimation  of  its  future  greatness.  And  Ladd 
&  Tilton,  Bankers,  whose  faith  in  the  future  of  the  city 
remained  unshaken,  and  who  were  e\er  ready  to  back  that 
faith  to  the  limit  of  their  resources,  progressed  with  the 
city.  The  end  of  this  year  found  their  deposits  swelled  to 
the  total  of  $222,364.87  and  their  capital  stock  increased 
to  $400,000.00. 

Ladd  &  Tilton  Erect  New  Bank  Building 

Passing  o\er  the  next  three  years,  which  w itnessed  a 
steady  grow  th  in  the  city's  population,  and  the  rapid  expan- 
sion of  its  industrial  and  commercial  life,  we  find  Ladd  & 
Tilton  again  seeking  more  commodious  quarters.  This 
time  they  decided  to  build  themselves  a  home  proportioned 
to  the  growth  they  anticipated  for  the  city,  and  its  corres- 
ponding financial  requirements  in  the  immediate  future. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  owner  of  the  first 
brick  building  in  the  city,  the  man  whose  physical  stature 
no  less  than  his  comprehensi\-e  grasp  of  business  and  eco- 
nomic problems  raised  him  abo\'e  the  ordinary  run  of  men, 
he  whose  first  recorded  advice  to  his  partner  in  a  matter  so 
simple  as  the  purchase  of  a  clock,  was:    "If  you  buy  any, 

Twenty-three 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

buy  a  good  one,"  would  be  satisfied  with  anything  less  than 
a  creditable  and,  above  all,  a  substantial  structure.  Nor 
was  he.  An  architect  from  the  East,  Mr.  John  Nester,  was 
engaged  to  design  a  building.  Not  only  the  iron,  but  all 
the  other  materials  entering  into  the  construction  of  the 
bank  building  at  First  and  Stark  streets — which  was  an 
example  of  the  best  type  of  buildings  of  that  day — were 
strictly  home  products.  The  iron  columns  and  cornice 
pieces  were  cast  at  the  Willamette  Iron  Foundry.  It  was 
in  the  fall  of  1868  that  Ladd  &  Tilton  moved  into  their 
new  home.  A  newspaper  item,  in  October  of  that  year, 
makes  this  comment: 

We  notice  that  the  bank  building  of  Ladd  &  Tilton  has 
been  painted  in  imitation  of  stone.  It  presents  a  very  fine 
appearance,  and  is  doubtless  one  of  the  finest  structures  in 
the  state 

Mr.  Ladd  Gives  Free  Home  to  Library 

Mr.  Ladd,  who  was  interested  in  everything  that  affected 
the  material  progress  of  the  city  and  its  moral,  social  and 
educational  advancement,  had  for  years  been  active  in  a 
movement,  set  on  foot  by  a  coterie  of  enthusiastic  citizens, 
to  found  a  public  library.  From  a  small  beginning,  the 
collection  of  books,  extending  over  a  decade  of  years,  had 
grown  so  large  at  the  time  of  the  completion  of  the  new 
bank  building,  that  the  subject  of  proper  accommodation  for 
them  had  become  a  pressing  one.  It  was  in  keeping  with 
Mr.  Ladd's  spirit  of  helpfulness  in  such  circumstances  that 
he  should  come  to  the  rescue  of  the  library  association  with 
an  offer  of  the  upper  floor  of  the  bank,  free  of  charge,  where 
for  many  years  the  library  had  its  home.  Speaking  at  the 
dedication   of  the   Public   Library   building    in    1Q13,    Dr. 

Tu'enty-four 


LADD     &     TILTON      BANK 


•*f^ 


LADD    &    TILTON    BANK 

FIRST  AND  SIARK  STREETS 
i868-iqi  I 

It  was  on  the  second  floor  of  this  building  that  the  Portland  Library  Association 

had  its  first  home 


'Twenty-five 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

Thomas  Lamb  Eliot  referred  to  this  incident  in  the  following 
eloquent  tribute  to  the  work  of  Mr.  Ladd  and  his  fellow- 
members  of  the  library  board: 

'A  library,"  says  Victor  Hugo,  "is  an  act  of  faith." 
He  was  speaking  of  the  National  Library  of  Paris, 
founded,  it  is  said,  by  Charlemagne  *  *  *  *  The  story  of 
our  own  library,  though  humble,  is  indeed  a  story  of  faith; 
faith  in  the  hearts  of  men  like  Wakefield  and  Ladd,  Deady 
and  Failing;  of  women  like  Ella  Smith.  It  is  the  record  of 
their  confidences  and  of  that  spirit  which  they  inspired 
in  others  to  share  their  time  and  means  toward  the 
upbuilding  of  what  has  finally  become  this  ennobling 
institution  of  our  common  life,  as  a  city  of  toilers  and 
fellow-believers  in  the  powers  of  goodness,  beauty  and 
truth  *  *  *  *  For  three  years  the  library  was  a  huddled, 
adullamite  group  of  books  and  papers  in  an  upper  room 
until  it  was  given  its  first  firm  body  in  the  use  of  the 
upper  floor  of  the  bank,  the  gift  of  W.  S.  Ladd  for  many 
years,  free,  upon  the  wise  condition,  renewed  from 
time  to  time,  that  funds  should  be  subscribed  for  the 
enlargement  of  the  book  list  and  for  wider    usefulness. 

Mr.  William  S.  Ladd  was  the  senior  member,  and,  as 
already  stated,  the  executive  head  of  the  bank.  To  his 
special  talent  for  organization  and  leadership  are  due  the 
success  of  the  institution  as  a  business  venture  and  the 
distinction  it  achieved  as  one  of  the  prime  factors  in  the  up- 
building of  this  city  and  state.  So  completely  did  Mr.  Ladd's 
personality  dominate  the  affairs  of  the  bank,  that  it  is 
difficult  from  this  time  on  to  discriminate  readily  between 
his  many  personal  financial  activities,  and  those  other 
enterprises  in  which  the  copartnership  of  the  bank  was 
involved.     In  a  word,  he  was  the  bank. 

The  City  Grows — River  Steamers  Multiply 

About  1 87 1  Portland  had  grown  to  such  a  size,  and  the 
Oregon  representatives  at  Washington  had  worked  \vith  such 
good  effect  in  the  interest  of  their  constituents,  that  an 
appropriation  for  a  new  post  office  building  was  secured, 

Twenty-six. 


L  A  D  D     &     T  I  L  T  O  N      BANK 


nii_ 


POST  OFFICE  WITH  CENTRAL  SCHOOL  IN  BACKGROUND 
Portland  Hotel  now  Occupies  Former  School  Site 

and  the  site  at  Fifth  and  Morrison  streets  selected.  But, 
although  the  population  at  this  time  was  close  to  12,000,  the 
business  section  still  remained  huddled  close  to  the  ri\er 
hank  and  did  not  extend  south  much  beyond  Washington 
street.  An  instance  of  the  city's  slow  progress  westward  is 
found  in  a  newspaper  paragraph  that  jokingly  affects  to 
criticise  the  authorities  in  Washington  for  ha\ing  chosen  a 
site  "on  the  edge  of  Washington  County."  When  the 
building  was  completed,  in  1875,  it  was  still  so  far  away 
from  the  business  section  that  the  same  paper  suggested  the 
operation  of  a  "pony  express"  from  the  business  center  to 
the  post  office. 

The  dexelopment  of  the  w ealth  of  the  \ast  region  extend- 
ing from  the  Cascades  to  the  Bitter  Root  mountains,  made 

Twenty-seven 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 


A  Palatial  Excursion  Boat  of  Early  Days  on  the  Willamette  and  Columbia  Rivers 

a  demand  for  steamboats  to  carry  merchandise  and  supplies 
of  every  kind,  needed  by  the  thousands  of  miners,  merchants 
and  traders,  who  flocked  to  the  new  camps.  The  enterprise 
of  business  men  was  immediately  aroused,  with  the  result 
that,  whereas  but  a  few  years  since  scarcely  a  single  steam- 
boat was  to  be  seen  on  the  waters  of  the  upper  Columbia,  we 
now  find  not  only  the  waters  of  the  upper  Columbia,  but 
those  of  its  tributaries  as  well,  sparkling  beneath  the  churning 
paddles  of  steamboats,  whose  shrill  whistles  startle  the  fawn 
on  the  river  bank,  and  awaken  echoes  in  the  rocky  gorges  and 
caverns  that  abound  in  this  region. 

Panic  and  Fire  of  1873  Great  Disasters 

The  future  of  Portland  was  bright  with  promise,  and 
there  was  no  premonition  in  the  minds  of  its  business  men 
of  the  double  calamity  that  was  approaching.  In  the  spring 
of  1873  came  a  panic  that  shook  the  country  to  its  founda- 
tions; and  this  was  followed  in  Portland,  in  the  early  part 
of  August,  by  a  destructive  fire  which  in  a  short  time  con- 
sumed the  product  of  years  of  earnest,   patient   industry. 


Twenty-eight 


LADD    &    TILTON      BANK 

The  panic  caught  many  of  the  smaller  local  operators 
unprepared  for  such  a  turn  of  events,  and  wrought  their 
financial  ruin.  The  fire  destroyed  over  $1,000,000  worth  of 
property — twenty  blocks  being  laid  waste — and  many  who 
escaped  loss  through  the  panic  were  made  destitute  by  the 
flames. 

In  those  days  the  city  was  protected  against  fire  by 
companies  of  volunteer  firemen,  which  Mr.  Ladd,  while 
mayor  of  the  city,  was  instrumental  in  organizing.  These 
companies  were  equipped  with  hand-pumps  and  hook-and- 
ladder  trucks.  About  the  time  of  this  fire,  there  had  been 
added  a  steam  fire  engine.  The  water  supply  was  obtained 
from  cisterns,*  some  25  of  which,  containing  from  11,000 
to  25,000  gallons  each,  were  located  at  convenient  .points 
about  the  city.  In  the  emergency  presented  by  this  civic 
calamity  the  help  of  every  able-bodied  man  was'  requi- 
sitioned. 


♦These  cisterns  are  still  mainraineJ  li\the  Fire  Bureau,  and  have  been  use  J  effect- 
ively In  some  cases. 


Twenty-nine 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 


Mr.  Ladds  Health  Fails 

Mr.  Ladd  threw  himself  into  the  work  of  fighting  the 
fiames  with  all  the  enthusiasm,  energy  and  daring,  that 
marked  his  efforts  in  every  field — toiling  ceaselessly  at  one 
of  the  hand-pumps,  with  the  result  that  this  unaccustomed 
manual  labor,  added  to  the  physical  strain  induced  by  many 
years  of  unremitting  devotion  to  his  business  interests, 
brought  on  a  condition  of  nervous  prostration,  in  1875, 
compelling  him  to  take  a  rest.  Accompanied  by  his  wife, 
his  daughters  and  his  youngest  son,  Wesley,  according  to  a 
biographer : 

He  went  East,  and  was  gone  twelve  months,  but  he 
did  not  consult  physicians;  he  could  not  endure  the  idea 
that  he  was  sick,  and  for  the  time  his  iron  will  sustained 
him.  Leaving  Chicago  with  a  pleasant  party,  on  their 
return  trip  he  was  jovial,  as  usual,  but  suddenly  there 
was  a  change  and  he  became  quiet,  as  though  endeavoring 
to  repress  symptoms  of  physical  distress.  "Don't  you 
feel  well?"  asked  his  wife.  'Not  exactly,"  was  his 
considerate  reply.  Whether  he  realized  at  that  moment 
that  a  shadow  had  fallen  upon  his  life,  no  one  but  himself 
knows.  Never  complaining,  he  reached  San  Francisco  and 
by  that  time  his  lower  limbs  were  so  much  affected  that 
he  walked  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  His  mind 
was  made  up  to  return  to  Portland,  but  on  account  of  the 
ice  blockade  in  the  Columbia  River,  he  was  detained  in 
San  Francisco  three  months.  After  reaching  Portland 
he  remained  there  until  the  autumn  of  1876,  when, 
having  had  another  stroke  of  paralysis,  he  went  to 
Philadelphia,  his  wife  accompanying  him,  and  there 
subjected  himself  to  the  most  heroic  treatment  under 
Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell,  an  authority  on  nervous  diseases. 
So  obstinate  was  his  struggle,  so  determined  was  the 
strong  man  not  to  yield  up  his  strength  that  he  submitted 
to  everything  that  seemed  to  offer  any  hope  of  restoring 
him  to  health,  but  in  vain,  and  he  lost  permanently  all 
use  of  the  limbs  affected.  The  stroke  coming  upon  him 
in  the  full  flower  of  manhood  and  vigor  was  a  great  cross 
to  him,  doubtless  the  greatest  that  he  has  ever  had  to 
bear.  He  could  not  at  first  command  sufficient  philo- 
sophy or  Christian  resignation  to  accept  the  inevitable  and 
bow  in  submission.     The  affliction  seemed  greater  than 


Thirty 


LADD     &     TILTON      BANK 


he  could  bear,  but  in  the  darkest  hour  of  distress  words 
of  light  and  consolation  came  to  him  from  scripture: 
"Whomso  the  Lord  loveth  he  chastcncth."  During  his 
convalescence  a  poor  laboring  man,  as  it  sent  by  Provi- 
dence as  a  messenger  of  peace,  came  up  and  greeted  him 
as  he  was  seated  in  a  warm  sunny  part  ot  the  elegant 
grounds  about  his  house  with  every  comfort  at  command, 
and  told  him  of  a  similar  affliction  through  which  he  had 
passed  without  money,  without  friends,  and  with  no 
help.  With  his  recovery  his  wonted  good-humor  and 
cheerfulness  returned  *  *  *  *  It  is  a  grand  spectacle  of 
fortitude,  resignation,  and  power  that  he  presents  at  this 
time,  attending  to  the  details  of  his  tremendous  enter- 
prises, with  intense  and  unimpaired  intellectuality;  a 
majestic  exemplification  of  patience  triumphing  over 
suffering;  his  limbs  failing  him,  he  walks  upon  his 
courage.     Surely  such  a  man  may  stand  before  Kings. 


After  the  Fire 

So  disconcerting  proved  the  panic,  and  the  conflagration 
which  followed  it,  that  the  years  1874,  1875  and  1876,  passed 
without  any  marked  improvement  in  the  business  situation. 
"The  panic  of  1873,"  says  Woodrow  Wilson  in  his  "Epochs 
of  American  History,"  "was  distinctly  a  railroad  panic; 
two-fifths  of  the  railroad  mileage  of  the  country  passed  into 
the  hands  of  receivers,  while  between  1876  and  1879  four 
hundred  and  fifty  roads  were  sold  under  foreclosure."  That 
the  bank's  resources  were  not  materially  affected,  however, 
is  apparent  from  an  examination  of  its  books  at  the  close  of 
the  year  1873,  at  which  time  the  deposits  totaled  $569,937.15. 

After  the  fire — in  which  a  number  of  furniture  concerns 
were  destroyed — it  was  proposed  to  form  a  strong  company 
for  the  manufacture  of  furniture.  Mr.  Ladd  was  one  of  the 
principal  promoters  of  the  enterprise — the  only  one,  in  fact, 
of  the  wealthy  men  of  the  city  who  seemed  to  feel  confident 


Thirty  one 


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LADD     &     TILTON      BANK 


1.     .-It- 


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Front  Street.  Looking  N'oilh   from  Stark  Street.     About   1885 

of  any  return  from  such  an  investment — an  evidence  of  his 
remarkable  foresight,  which  we  are  to  see  repeated  again 
and  again,  as  emergencies  arise  or  opportunities  present 
themselves. 

The  period  from  1877  to  1883  saw  a  revival  of  business 
not  only  in  Portland  but  throughout  the  entire  section  it 
served.  Much  construction,  of  quite  a  permanent  character, 
was  undertaken.  To  this  period  belong  very  many  of  the 
three,  four  and  five  story  iron-front  type  of  buildings,  which 
are  to  be  found  in  the  district  bounded  by  Taylor,  Ash, 
Front  and  Third  streets;  the  mention  of  the  names  of  which, 
without  great  particularity,  might  cause  them  to  be  con- 
founded with  some  of  the  present-day  skyscrapers.  With 
a  population  now  approximating  25,000  people;  with  its 
splendid  array  of  business  blocks  and  its  pretty  homes;  with 
some  21  churches;  with  its  new  high  school,  four  primary 
and  eight  select  schools,   and  several   academies;  with  its 


Thirty-three 


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< 

X 


L  A  D  D     6.      r  1  L  T  O  N      BANK 

fine  new  post  office  and  its  street  railway;  and,  abo\e  all, 
with  the  high  hopes  that  animated  its  citizens,  Portland 
presented  every  appearance  of  the  happy,  cultured  and  pros- 
perous community  that  it  was. 

Mr.   Tilton  Retires  and  Mr.   \\".  M.  Ladd 
Becomes  Partner 

The  dissolution  of  the  partnership  of  Ladd  6l  I'ilton,  in 
1880,  caused  by  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Tilton  and  Mr.  Mead 
from  business  that  year,  found  the  bank  in  a  highly  prosper- 
ous condition.  Its  deposits  had  grown  to  the  substantial 
sum  of  $1,000,000;  and  the  capital  and  surplus,  which 
amounted  to  another  $1 ,000,000,  was  distributed.  The  bank 
now  became  in  fact,  what  in  reality  it  had  always  been — a 
Ladd  institution.  Coincident  with  the  dissolution  and  dis- 
tribution, a  new  partnership  was  formed  by  William  S.  Ladd 
and  his  eldest  son,  William  M.  Ladd.  the  capital  being 
$250,000,  and  the  business  continuing  under  the  familiar 
firm  name  of  Ladd  &  Tilton,  Bankers. 

Henry  Villard  and  the  \  or  them 
Pacific  Railroad 

K'leanw  hile,  the  w  hole  country  was  undergoing  a  change— 
the  old  order  of  things  was  passing.  It  was  the  beginning 
of  a  new  and  complicated  economic  organization,  in  which 
great  aggregations  of  capital  w  ere  to  be  utilized  in  the  service 
of  industries  on  a  national  scale.  "Henceforth  the  trend  of 
American  life  was  to  be  distinctly  away  from  the  simple 
conditions  that  characterized  newly  settled  regions.""  The 
year  1880  opened  under  auspicious  circumstances.  The  hope, 
long  deferred,  of  direct  transcontinental  communication  by 

Thirty-five 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

rail  with  the  East,  seemed  about  to  be  realized.  For, 
although  the  completion  of  the  Pacific  railways  to  San 
Francisco  had  proven  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  business 
interests  of  Portland  and  the  adjacent  territory,  there  still 
remained  a  hiatus  of  some  700  miles  separating  Portland 
from  San  Francisco,  and  this  distance  had  to  be  traveled  by 
steamer.  This  huge  gap  was  now  to  be  closed,  and  the 
long-cherished  dream  of  a  through  transcontinental  line  from 
Portland  eastward,  was  about  to  be  realized. 

A  conspicuous  figure  in  the  railroad  development  of  this 
period  was  Mr.  Henry  Villard;  and  it  was  to  him  that  the 
people  of  Portland  and  of  Oregon  confidently  looked  for 
deliverance  from  an  isolation  that  denied  them  the  ad- 
vantages which  San  Francisco  enjoyed,  and  barred  them  from 
full  participation  in  the  nation-wide  program  of  trade 
expansion.  Mr.  Villard,  like  Mr.  Ladd,  whose  friend  he 
was,  saw  in  Portland's  situation  with  regard  to  the  vast 
territory  of  which  it  was  the  natural  outlet,  the  elements 
that  make  for  a  great  commercial  metropolis;  and  in  the 
vision  he  entertained  of  a  big  transcontinental  railroad  across 
the  country,  Portland  figured  as  its  western  terminus.  He 
began  by  acquiring  control  of  the  Oregon  Steam  Navigation 
Company,  which  was  to  serve  as  the  chief  asset  in  the 
capitalization  of  the  Oregon  Railway  &  Navigation  Com- 
pany, which  he  now  proceeded  to  organize,  finding  a  ready 
market  for  its  stock  in  the  East.  His  next  move  was  the 
promotion  of  the  Oregon  Improvement  Company,  and  this 
stock  found  a  no  less  ready  acceptance  in  the  same  market. 
Having  thus  easily  succeeded  in  financing  the  Oregon 
Railway  &  Navigation  Company,  "he  began  to  build  a  road 
eastward  from  Portland  along  the  Columbia  river.  He 
now  conceived  the  plan  of  getting  control  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  railroad,  which  for  some  years  past  had  been  in  a 
fair  way  to  be  built  directly  across  the  continent  to  Seattle." 

Thirty-six 


LADD    &     TILTON      BANK 


First  Noilhern  Pacilk    I'rain  into  Portland 


1-  i 


Arches  erected  on  First  Street  to  celebrate  occasion  of  First  Transcontinental 

Train  into  Portland,  Sept.  ii,  1883 


281028 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

The  methods  by  which  he  accomplished  his  object — his 
invasion  of  Wall  Street  and  the  literal  "taking"  of  the  road 
from  Billings — however  the  coup  might  be  regarded  today, 
was  the  financial  sensation  of  that  period.  Concentrating 
a  great  force  upon  the  line,  he  began  under  tremendous  cost 
to  push  forward  its  construction.  The  road  was  completed 
in  1883,  and  the  driving  of  the  last  spike,  September  8,  of 
that  year,  was  made  the  occasion  for  great  rejoicing  and 
celebration  in  Portland.  On  September  11,  1883,  the  first 
transcontinental  train  pulled  into  the  city.  It  was  drawn 
by  a  wood-burning  engine. 

Unfortunately  for  Portland,  Mr.  Villard's  reliance  upon 
the  estimates  of  the  cost  of  construction  furnished  him  by 
the  engineering  department  of  the  road,  which  proved  mis- 
leading, combined  with  other  causes  not  necessary  to  mention 
here,  involved  him  in  financial  difficulties  that  eventually 
forced  his  retirement  from  the  presidency,  and  gave  control 
of  the  road  to  interests  that  were  inimical  to  Portland. 

The  Oregon  &  Transcontinental  Company,  in  which 
Mr.  Ladd  was  a  stockholder,  was  organized  by  Mr.  Villard 
as  a  holding  company  for  the  securities  of  the  three  systems 
he  controlled:  the  Northern  Pacific,  Oregon  Railway  & 
Navigation  Company,  and  the  Willamette  Valley  roads — 
the  Oregon  &  California  and  the  Oregon  Central — and  upon 
Its  failure  these  three  systems  fell  apart.  The  subsequent 
selection  of  Tacoma  to  be  the  western  terminus  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  railroad  gave  to  that  city  its  first  valid 
claim  to  public  notice  and  distinction. 

The  collapse  of  what  Portlanders  were  wont  to  refer  to 
as  "the  Villard  boom,"  was  a  serious  blow  to  the  business 
interests  of  the  city,  and  a  sad  disappointment  to  the 
aspirations  of  its  citizens.  In  the  end,  however,  Portland 
was  the  gainer  by  this  turn  of  events,  for  it  became  shortly 

Thirly-eiglU 


LADD     &i     TILTON      BANK 

the  terminal  not  merely  of  one  but  of  three  great  trans- 
continental systems:  the  Northern  Pacific,  Southern  Pacific 
and  Union  Pacific  railways. 

The  Portland  Flouring  Mills  Company 

Among  the  varied  enterprises  of  the  city  none  was  less 
perceptibly  affected,  by  the  panic  that  ensued,  than  was  the 
Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank — to  the  wise  management  and  strong 
resources  of  which  was  due  its  ability  to  extend  financial 
assistance  to  many  establishments  in  the  city  that  other- 
wise must  have  been  sorely  embarrassed. 

Perhaps  no  industry  was  more  shaken  in  this  trying 
period  than  that  of  flour  milling  throughout  the  state.  Many 
of  the  mills  were  indebted  to  Mr.  Ladd,  who  before  long  dis- 
covered that  nearly  all  of  them  were  insolvent.  With  his 
accustomed  generosity  he  offered  the  owners  sufficient 
credit  to  tide  them  over  their  difficulties,  provided  they 
would  co-operate  with  him.  This  they  appeared  unwilling 
to  do.  If  anything  was  to  be  done,  Mr.  Ladd  alone  would 
have  to  do  it.  He  took  a  view  of  the  matter  that  was  both 
commendable  and  wise.  If  the  mills  were  closed,  he  rea- 
soned, many  of  the  families  dependent  upon  them  for  a 
means  of  livelihood  would  be  reduced  to  want.  While  their 
operation  was  not  essential  to  the  liquidation  of  their  debt 


Harbor  Scene  Looking  Norih  Iro.n  Foot  of  East  Morribon  St.     About   i88j. 

Thirtv-nine 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

to  the  bank,  on  the  other  hand  it  was  vital  to  the  interests  of 
the  communities  in  which  they  were  located,  and  to  the  state 
at  large.  His  judgment  assured  him  that  the  disaster  which 
had  come  upon  them  was  purely  of  a  temporary  nature. 
Here,  then,  was  a  chance  to  perform  a  public  service  of  a 
wide  and  practical  kind.  His  mind  was  fully  made  up.  He 
boldly  and  confidently  assumed  a  burden  that  experienced 
millers  had  refused  to  share.  He  took  over  the  two  mills 
at  Oregon  City,  and  one  at  Salem,  Oregon,  as  well  as  one 
at  Dayton,  Washington.  It  soon  became  apparent  that 
while  the  output  of  the  mills  was  in  excess  of  local  require- 
ments, the  surplus  was  not  sufficient  for  satisfactory  ex- 
port business,  and  hence  a  somewhat  greater  capacity  was 
needed  in  order  to  secure  the  prompt  loading  and  dis- 
patch of  export  cargoes.  In  order  to  accomplish  this  ob- 
ject, Mr.  Ladd  now  built  the  mill  on  the  East  Side, 
known  as  the  Albina  Flour  Mill. 

With  the  growing  importance  of  the  flouring  industry, 
Mr.  Ladd  realized  the  necessity  of  relieving  himself  of  its 
management,  and  accordingly  looked  about  for  someone  on 
whose  business  ability  he  might  rely,  to  conduct  this  thriv- 
ing enterprise.  Some  years  before,  on  the  recommendation 
of  Mr.  Asahel  Bush,  his  partner  in  the  Salem  bank,  there 
had  come  into  the  employ  of  Mr.  Ladd,  from  Westfield, 
Mass.,  (Mr.  Bush's  home  town),  a  young  man  named 
Theodore  B.  Wilcox  who,  ere  long,  became  teller  of  the 
bank,  and,  eventually,  Mr.  Ladd's  close  confidant  in  all  his 
varied  business  affairs.  Mr.  Ladd  now  decided  to  entrust 
the  management  of  the  flour  milling  business  jointly  to  his 
son,  Mr.  Charles  E.  Ladd,  and  Mr.  Wilcox,  under  a  mag- 
nanimous arrangement  whereby  these  two  young  men  be- 
came equal  partners  in  the  ownership  of  the  mills.  Mr. 
Charles  E.  Ladd  shortly  withdrew  from  the  business,  how- 
ever, leaving  Mr.  Wilcox  in  full  control.  Thus  originated 
the  Portland  Flouring  Mills  Company. 

Forty 


L  A  D  D     &     T  1  L  r  O  N      BANK 


Portland  Flouring  Mills  (Albina  Mill)   in  the  Early  8o's 

Mr.  Wilcox,  being  now  relieved  of  his  connection  with 
the  bank,  gave  his  whole  attention  to  the  flour  milling  busi- 
ness, and  in  his  management  of  it  not  only  substan- 
tiated the  soundness  of  Mr.  Ladd's  judgment  of 
him,  but  displayed  a  genius  that  was  later  to  distinguish 
him  as  one  of  the  city's  foremost  business  men.  Under  his 
direction  the  company  built  mills  at  Tacoma  and  Odessa, 
Wash.,  and  Condon,  Ore.;  and  acquired  by  purchase  the 
mills  at  Prescott,  Harrington,  and  Everett,  Wash.,  as  well 
as  warehouse  facilities  on  the  several  railway  lines  of  the 
Northwest. 

In  iqi8  Mr.  Wilcox  purchased  the  Ladd  interest  in  the 
flouring  mills.  He  continued  to  be  the  dominating  factor 
in  the  milling  interests  of  the  Pacific  Northwest  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  March  31,  iqi8.  Since 
the  death  of  Mr.  Wilcox,  the  estate  has  disposed  of  its  flour 
mill  holdings,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  year 
acquired  a  large  interest  in  the  Ladd  &  Tilton  Bank. 


Forty-one 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

Mr.  Ladds  Public  Spirit 

A  gloomy  reminder  of  "the  Villard  boom,"  there  stood 
for  a  number  of  years  in  the  heart  of  Portland  the  foundation 
of  a  projected  hotel  building,  which  now,  alas!  appeared  all 
too  ample  in  its  proportions,  for  the  city  of  disappointed 
hopes  and  defeated  ambitions.  Up  to  1888  it  stood  there, 
an  exhibit  that  aroused  curiosity  on  the  part  of  visitors,  and 
melancholy  reflections  on  the  part  of  citizens.  Much  talk 
had  been  indulged  in  but  nothing  was  done  egarding  the 
completion  of  the  building  until,  one  day,  Mr.  Ladd  invited 
some  of  the  leading  men  and  property  owners  of  the  city 
to  meet  him  in  his  office  at  the  bank,  to  discuss  a  business 
proposition.  In  a  brief  speech  he  pointed  out  to  them  the 
folly  of  permitting  that  foundation  to  lie  useless;  pictured 
the  future  growth  of  Portland  and  its  need  of  better  hotel 
accommodations,  and  concluded  by  saying: 

If  you  gentlemen  will  organize  a  company  with  a 
capital  stock  of  $500,000,  I  will  take  one-fifth  of  the 
stock,  on  condition  that  Mr.  H.  W.  Corbett,  a  man  in 
whose  real,  business  ability  and  integrity  everyone  has 
confidence,  is  made  president  of  the  corporation. 

The  meeting  resulted  in  an  organization  on  the  lines 
suggested  by  Mr.  Ladd.  On  April  i,  i8qo,  the  building 
was  formally  opened  to  the  public;  and  it  was  not  long 
until  the  Portland  Hotel  was  famous  throughout  the 
United  States  for  its  architectural  beauty  and  surround- 
ings, the  elegance  of  its  appointments  and  the  excellence 
of  its  cuisine.  Here  again  we  see  manifested  that  zeal  for 
the  public  welfare,  that  farsightedness  and  sound  judg- 
ment, which  is  observable  in  every  public  act  of  this 
benefactor  of  the  city  and  state. 

Mr.  Ladd  was  ever  an  ardent  advocate  of  a  pure  water 
supply,  which  he  urged  incessantly.     To  his  practical  mind, 

Forty-two 


LADD    &     TILTON      BANK 

other  municipal  improvements  such  as  streets,  lighting, 
etc.,  while  in  every  way  desirable  and  necessary,  were  of 
secondary  importance  to  an  adequate  supply  of  pure,  whole- 
some water;  and  no  one  in  the  city  was  better  pleased  than 
he  when  the  Bull  Run  water  main,  in  the  laying  of  which, 
as  chairman  of  the  board  of  construction,  he  participated, 
was  finally  authorized.  "Scarcely  a  single  enterprise  of  any 
consequence,"  says  a  biographer,  "proposed  or  undertaken 
in  Portland  since  his  identification  with  the  city,  that  he 
has  not  taken  a  greater  or  less  part  in,  contributing  to  its 
promotion  his  time,  experience  and  money.  Wherever  the 
spirit  of  progress  pointed  the  way  for  activity  and  develop- 
ment, he  followed  its  lead." 

The  Crises  of  1884  and  i8q^ 

The  crisis  of  1884,  which  was  produced  by  conditions 
that  obtained  quite  generally  throughout  the  country,  was 
due  in  a  large  degree  to  overexpansion  of  loans,  induced  by 
speculation  in  securities  promising  big  returns.  It  caused 
numerous  suspensions,  including  those  of  two  large  national 
banks..  Though  the  financial  stringency  was  felt  every- 
where in  the  land,  it  was  naturally  more  acute  in  New  York, 
where  the  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  general  public  to 
withhold  savings  and  other  deposits,  and  the  evident  attempt 
of  interior  banks  to  fortify  their  reserves,  was  reflected  in  a 
depletion  of  the  balances  maintained  in  that  city.  The 
prompt  issuance  by  New  York  banks  of  clearing  house  loan 
certificates  in  the  sum  of  nearly  $25,000,000  to  be  used  in 
settling  debit  balances, — practically  all  of  which  were 
retired  within  sixty  days, — went  far  toward  restoring  con- 
fidence and  preventing  the  most  serious  consequences. 

The  politics  and  legislation  of  this  period  were  of  a 
character  to  produce  that  unsettled  state  of  the  public  mind 

Forty-three 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

which  is  apt  to  create  financial  disturbance.  There  was  a 
want  of  definite  purpose  and  of  progress.  The  political 
leaders  of  both  parties  sought  vainly  to  discover  a  solution 
of  the  new  problems  that  faced  the  country.  The  old  political 
platforms  had  to  be  revised  to  meet  the  situation — and  "un- 
certainty, vacillation  and  inconsistency,"  marked  the  methods 
of  revision.  From  1884  to  1888  a  Democratic  president 
and  House  were  opposed  by  a  Republican  Senate.  Then 
followed  two  years  during  which  a  united  Republican  admin- 
istration was  in  power,  until  the  Democrats  wrested  it  from 
them  and,  at  the  close  of  the  Harrison  administration,  again 
placed  Mr.  Cleveland  in  the  presidential  chair.  Disagree- 
ments arose  within  the  two  parties.  The  conditions  at  this 
period  are  well  described  in  Prof.  A.  B.  Hart's  "Social  and 
Economic  Forces  in  American  History,"  as  follows: 

On  monetary  questions  the  West  and  South  did 
not  agree  with  the  East;  on  ta.xation  the  Democratic 
party  was  hopelessly  split.  Hence  it  was  impossible  to 
secure  harmonious  development  in  legislation;  a  silver 
law  was  passed  and  repealed;  within  four  years  two 
tariffs  were  put  in  force,  and  an  income  tax  was  imposed, 
only  to  be  declared  unconstitutional.  Futile  attempts 
were  made  to  restrain  the  increasing  power  of  corporations 
and  organized  capital.  *  *  *  *  The  economic  life  of  the 
country  was  unstable;  a  slow  recovery  from  the  depression 
of  1884  led  to  imprudent  undertakings,  while  commercial 
recklessness  and  legislative  error  destroyed  prosperity. 
Once  more  the  nation  had  to  climb  the  long  and  arduous 
road  leading  to  confidence  and  enterprise.  At  every 
turn — from  recovery  to  panic,  and  then  to  fresh  recovery 
— perplexing  problems  arose. 

But  before  the  conditions  which  Prof.  Hart  describes 
culminated  in  the  crisis  of  1893,  Portland  was  destined  to 
experience  not  only  complete  recovery  from  the  depression 
that  followed  the  Villard  collapse,  but  also  a  period  of  some- 
thing more  than  five  years  of  prosperity,  during  which  it 
made  remarkable  progress,  both  in  point  of  population  and 
of  business  expansion. 

Forly-JouT 


LADD    &     TIL TON      BANK 

A  Definition  of  ^'Good  Times  ^ 

What  is  popularly  termed  "good  times,"  is  traceable  to 
a  variety  of  causes — "either  in  general  to  an  augmented  gold 
output,"  such  as  characterized  the  early  mining  operations 
in  California,  the  later  placer  mining  in  Oregon  and  the  still 
more  recent  discoveries  in  the  Klondike  region,  "or  in  par- 
ticular to  the  increase  in  the  demand  for  some  special  prod- 
uct. Prices  first  rise  in  the  particular  enterprise  affected, 
production  augments,  the  movement  spreads  to  other  lines 
of  business,"  and  lo,  prosperity  has  arrived.  The  growth  of 
railroad  facilities,  and  the  consequent  encouragement  given 
to  immigration;  the  development  of  the  flour  milling  and 
lumber  industries,  and  the  establishment  of  an  Oriental 
steamship  line  to  market  tiie  surplus  product;  the  free  range, 
which  gave  an  impetus  to  the  cattle  and  sheep  industry;  the 
demand  for  copper,  through  the  wide  application  of  elec- 
tricity— which  resulted  in  the  development  of  the  gold, 
silver  and  copper  mines  of  Idaho  and  Montana  and  the  open- 
ing of  timber  reserves  of  great  value  in  Washington — these 
ail  contributed,  in  greater  or  lesser  degree,  to  the  era  of 
prosperity  which  Portland  enjoyed  during  five  or  six  years 
following  the  depression  of  1884. 


East  and  West  Sides  Consolidate 

Thus  far,  in  speaking  of  Portland,  we  have  been  con- 
cerned only  with  the  west  side  of  the  city  which,  up  to  the 
time  we  are  writing  of,  constituted  the  whole  of  the  city 
proper.  But  for  many  years  the  communities  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river,  known,  respectively,  as  East  Portland  and 
Albina,  and  which  maintained  independent  corporate  exis- 
tences, had  been  growing  in  population  and  business  impor- 

Forty-five 


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LADD     6^     TIL  TON      BANK 

tance.  A  movement  which  had  been  started  some  years 
before,  with  a  view  of  having  these  three  communities 
merged  under  one  municipal  government,  which  had  gained 
in  popular  favor  as  the  facilities  for  intercommunication 
were  increased  by  the  building  of  bridges  across  the  Willam- 
ette, had  reached  such  a  stage  in  i8qi  that,  at  the  June 
elections  of  that  year,  the  question  of  consolidation  was 
voted  on  and  the  measure  was  carried  by  an  overwhelming 
majority.  So  that  by  the  end  of  iSqi,  with  the  inclusion 
of  these  two  important  additions  in  its  municipality,  the 
population  of  Portland  was  90,785 ;  while  in  the  same  period 
Ladd  &z  Tilton's  deposits  had  jumped  from  $1,542,109.68, 
in  1883,  to  $3,095,167.95,  in  1892.  Among  the  many  fine 
structures  that  now  loomed  in  the  business  district  may  be 
mentioned  the  Oregonian  building,  the  Hotel  Portland,  the 
Marquam  Grand  Opera  House — where  the  Northwestern 
National  Bank  now  stands — Henry  Weinhard's  new  block, 
the  Hotel  Perkins,  the  Portland  Library  building,  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  building,  the  Dekum  and  Goodnough 
buildings,  and  many  others  of  a  somewhat  less  imposing,  but, 
nevertheless,  substantial  character. 

The  Northern  Pacific  Terminal  Company  was  at  this 
time  engaged  in  reclaiming  Couch  Lake,  which  occupied  the 
territory  now  covered  by  the  Union  depot  and  the  railroad 
yards  north  and  west  of  it,  while  the  Union  depot,  and  the 
fourth  bridge  to  be  built  across  the  Willamette,  were  both 
under  construction.  Then  came  the  panic  of  1893,  the 
approach  of  which  has  already  been  discussed. 

Mr.  Ladds  Broad  Vision 

In  the  early  days,  'mid  the  isolation  and  dangers  that 
attended  frontier  life,  immigration  to  Oregon  was  diligently 
encouraged  and  warmly  welcomed ;  but  with  the  subsequent 

Forty-sn'en 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

better  settlement  of  the  country,  and,  more  particularly, 
when  Portland  had  attained  a  substantial  business  growth, 
along  in  the  early  "80s,  there  was  manifested  a  disposition 
on  the  part  of  many  of  the  "old-timers"  to  be  quite  content 
with  conditions  then  existing,  and,  as  the  saying  is,  to  "let 
well  enough  alone."  They  had  here  a  country  wonderfully 
rich  in  its  natural  resources,  unrivaled  in  the  beauty  of  its 
scenery,  and  with  a  climate  nowhere  equaled — what  more 
was  to  be  desired  ? 

Not  only  did  Mr.  Ladd  decline  to  share  in  this  sentiment 
— he  deprecated  and  opposed  it  on  every  occasion.  His 
broad  vision  of  the  future  and  his  whole-souled,  generous 
spirit,  could  not  tolerate  such  a  narrow,  superficial  view. 
He  believed  implicitly  in  the  great  future  that  awaited  his 
city  and  state,  and  he  realized  that  the  larger  the  number  of 
people  who  might  be  induced  to  locate  here,  and  the  greater 
the  extension  of  financial  help  to  outlying  communities,  the 
quicker  would  development  follow  and  the  better  would  it 
be  for  all  concerned.  This  view,  combined  with  his  broad 
sympathies  and  unbounded  enthusiasm,  led  him  at  an  early 
date  to  encourage  the  extension  of  the  banking  business,  and 
to  assist  in  the  development  of  new  enterprises,  wherever 
the  need  for  them  arose,  throughout  the  Northwest. 

As  early  as  1868  he  formed  a  partnership  with  Mr. 
Asahel  Bush  of  Salem,  Oregon,  where  they  opened  a  bank 
under  the  firm  name  of  Ladd  &  Bush.  This  was  the  be- 
ginning of  the  establishment  or  promotion  by  him  of  banks 
throughout  Oregon,  Washington  and  Idaho.  So  active  was 
he  in  this  respect,  and  so  far  did  his  financial  interests  reach, 
that  he  was  popularly  accredited  with  being  "a  taxpayer  in 
every  county  in  Oregon,  Washington  and  Idaho."  But, 
however  exaggerated  this  report  may  have  been,  certain  it  is 
that  very  many  of  the  banks  of  his  day,  in  this  section,  were 
indebted  to  him  for  either  financial  or  moral  assistance. 

Forly-eight 


L  A  D  D     &i     r  1  L  r  O  N      BANK 

Up  to  the  time  of  his  death — which  occurred  suddenly 
on  January  6,  1893,  at  his  home — notwithstanding  the  weak- 
ness of  his  lower  limbs,  Mr.  Ladd  had  comparatively  free  use 
of  his  arms  and  the  upper  part  of  his  body.  His  mind, 
which  had  quickly  recovered  from  the  shock,  remained  clear 
and  perfectly  balanced  to  the  end.  In  the  handling  of  his 
large  and  varied  business  interests  he  appeared  to  display 
the  same  remarkable  mental  activity,  force  and  wonderful 
executive  abilities  as  before,  though  for  some  years  prior 
to  his  death  the  active  management  of  his  large  banking 
interests,  both  in  Portland  and  elsewhere,  had  been  trans- 
ferred to  his  son,  Mr.  William  M.  Ladd,  while  his  many 
other  great  interests  and  projects  had  been  entrusted  to 
competent  and  trustworthy  management;  but  he  continued 
to  keep  in  touch  with  them,  and  e\en  exercised  a  general 
supervision  over  them.  Nor  did  he  fail  in  his  public  duties 
up  to  the  very  last,  as  the  following  account,  which  appeared 
in  one  of  the  local  papers,  attests : 

Just  a  few  days  prior  to  his  death  Mr  Ladd  attended 
a  meeting  of  the  construction  committee  of  the  water 
board  of  which  he  was  chairman.  The  meeting  was 
called  at  his  request,  in  order  that  he  might  submit  a 
report  in  regard  to  the  purchase  of  a  site  for  a  reservoir 
at  Mount  Tabor,  This  was  the  last  public  business  he 
attended  to,  and  he  seemed  to  have  a  premonition  that 
such  would  be  the  case.  He  shook  hands  cordially  with 
the  other  members  of  the  committee,  and  wished  them 
all  a  happy  New  Year,  remarking  that  his  had  not  been 
as  pleasant  as  usual,  on  account  of  his  poor  health,  and 
added  that  he  was  a  sicker  man  than  he  had  been  aware 
of.  He  then  went  on  to  say  that  he  had  felt  himself 
failing,  and  he  only  wished  to  live  long  enough  to  see 
three  things  accomplished.  One  of  these  was  the  com- 
pletion of  the  River  View  cemetery,  which  he  said  he 
mentioned  first,  because  it  had  been  undertaken  first. 
The  second  was  the  securing  of  a  25-foot  channel  from 
Portland  to  the  sea,  in  which  they  were  all  interested, 
and  which  he  was  confident  would  insure  the  future 
prosperity  of  Portland.  The  third  was  the  completion 
of  the  Bull  Run  water  works,  which  would  supply  the 
city  with  pure  water.     "I  should  like,"  said  he,  '"to  see 

Forty-nine 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 


these  works  finished  and  water  furnished  free  to  all,  but 
I  feel  now  that  I  shall  not  live  to  see  this  accomplished. 
But  as  long  as  I  live,  I  wish  to  do  my  duty,  and  that  is 
why  I  am  here  today,  as  I  have  charge  of  this  matter 
and  wish  to  make  my  report."  His  voice  faltered  several 
times  as  he  spoke,  and  his  friends  were  equally  affected. 

A4r.  Ladds  Death  Occurs  Suddenly 

Commenting    on  Mr.  Ladd's  death,  the  Oregonian  had 

this  to  say : 

The  announcement  of  Mr  Ladd's  death  swept  over 
the  city  this  morning  with  startling  effect.  Comparatively 
few  knew  that  he  had  been  ailing  and  none  expected  such 
a  sudden  termination  of  his  useful  life.  William  S.  Ladd 
was  the  most  conspicuous  figure  of  the  Pacific  Northwest. 
He  was  the  money  king  of  this  section  and  was  identified 
with  so  many  important  enterprises  that  his  individuality 
was  mingled  with  almost  everything  of  a  social,  business 
or  religious  character.  It  seldom  falls  to  the  lot  of  a 
man  to  maintain  a  position  of  leadership  by  universal 
consent  so  long  as  Mr.  Ladd  did.  For  more  than  a 
whole  generation  he  has  been  the  foremost  man  in 
Oregon,  and  during  that  time  he  has  impressed  himself 
upon  this  whole  Pacific  Northwest  so  forcibly  that  hi- 
works  will  live  after  him. 


The  biography  of  William  S.  Ladd  wants  little  of  being 
also  the  history  of  Portland.  It  is  true  that  Portland 
had  a  name  and  a  beginning  before  Mr  Ladd  came,  but 
it  was  as  a  settlement  merely,  not  as  the  foundation  of  a 
commercial  city.  It  was  the  advent  of  a  few  men, 
among  whom  Mr.  Ladd  was  prominent,  that  gave  the 
place  a  start  in  business,  and  has  so  long  enabled  it  to 
hold  the  chief  place  in  the  commerce  of  the  Northwest. 

Successful  as  Mr.  Ladd"s  career  has  been,  there  was 
no  miracle  about  it.  He  began  with  the  administration 
of  small  things.  He  was  never  one  of  those  who  expect 
success  without  compliance  with  the  conditions  on  which 
success  must  be  based.  Industry,  method,  prudence, 
lay  at  the  bottom  of  his  character.  His  resources  when 
he  came  to  Portland  forty-two  years  ago  were  his  energy 
and  integrity.  He  had  no  favors  from  fortune,  and  hi  ^ 
great  career  was  not  due  to  luck  or  accident.  It  lay  in 
the  man  himself.  But  character  is  not  shown  merely 
in  business  achievement.  Wealth,  however  great,  is  not 
in  itself  the  measure  of  success.     Mr.  Ladd's  life  is  before 

Fijly 


L  A  D  D     &'     T  1  LT  O  N      BANK 


us.  It  has  been  known  of  this  community  from  the  day 
of  his  arrival  in  his  young  manhood  to  the  close  ot  his 
honored  career  in  the  fullness  of  age.  Manly  character 
has  ever  been  his  mark.  Generosity  and  benevolence 
have  received  illustration  to  this  community  through 
him.  He  has  been  foremost,  or  with  the  foremost,  in 
every  work  through  which  character  is  given  to  city  or 
state.  With  counsel,  with  example,  with  money,  he  has 
always  assisted  and  often  led.  His  public  spirit  and  his 
worth  as  a  citizen  made  him  rich  in  the  respect  of  the 
people,  as  his  faith  in  Portland  and  general  foresight 
brought  him  material  wealth.  For  all  the  interests  ot  a 
growing  society,  in  that  stage  of  its  career  when  it  is 
fashioned  for  the  future,  he  has  done  an  immense  work — 
an  immense  work  for  its  trade  and  commerce,  for  its 
industry  and  business,  for  its  schools,  churches  and  the 
foundations  of  its  moral  life.  A  pri\'ate  citizen  in  name, 
his  position  in  affairs  makes  him  a  public  man;  but  his 
exceptional  wealth  and  the  power  it  gave  him  never 
affected  his  nature  or  demeanor;  in  all  circumstances  he 
was  alike  plain,  courteous  and  unassuming,  yet  was 
always  frank  and  earnest,  with  a  tolerance  that  covered 
all  frailties  but  shams  and  falsehoods. 

The  work  he  has  done  here  will  last  long.  His  influence 
on  the  life  and  fortunes  of  this  community  will  survive, 
not  only  in  its;lf,  but  in  new  forces  growing  out  of  those 
he  created  or  organized,  as  a  great  wave  set  in  motion  is 
felt  to  the  furthest  verge  of  unknown  sea. 


Mr.  Cookingham  Enters  Bank's  Service 

In  'iSqb,  Mr.  Edward  Cookingham — now  president  of  the 
bank — entered  its  service,  and  was  given  charge  of  the 
bank's  extensive  outside  interests,  to  which  he  continued  to 
devote  his  entire  attention  until  he  became  actively  con- 
nected with  the  institution,  locally,  some  ten  years  later. 

The  Spanish- American  War 

It  was  the  latter  part  of  1897,  before  the  country  began 
to  show  signs  of  a  definite  recovery  from  the  depression  of 
1893,  and  by  the  following  year  the  preparations  for  a  war 
with  Spain,  which  now  appeared  to  be  inevitable,  served  to 

Fi/ly-one 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 


make  this  recovery  complete  and  to  give  to  business  every- 
where in  the  United  States  a  momentum  that  lasted  nearly 
a  decade. 

On  April  25,  i8q8,  war  was  declared  and  President 
McKinley  issued  his  call  for  volunteers.  How  splendidly 
the  boys  of  'qS  answered  to  that  call  is  well  known.  But 
nowhere  was  the  response  more  promptly  or  more  cheerfully 
made  than  by  the  boys  of  the  famous  Second  Regiment 
Oregon  U.  S.  Volunteer  Infantry,  whose  proud  distinction 
it  was  to  be  "First  in  the  Philippines."  No  need  to  recount 
their  valorous  deeds  throughout  the  several  campaigns  in 
which  they  were  engaged,  nor  to  tell  of  the  glory  they  achieved 
at  Malabon,  where  their  gallantry  drew  from  the  German 
Consul  the  remark:  "I  take  off  my  hat  to  the  American 
volunteer."     Their  deeds  are  enshrined   in  the  hearts  of 

their  countrymen,  and  inscrib- 
ed by  a  grateful  common- 
wealth on  imperishable  granite, 
as  a  memorial  to  their  dead 
and    an    inspiration    to    future 


Monument 
Erected  to 
Dead  of  the 
Famous 
"Second 
Oregon" 


generations. 


The  Lewis  and  Clark 
Centennial  Exposition 

In  iqo3  a  bill  was  introduced 
in  the  Legislative  Assembly  of 
Oregon,  authorizing  an  approp- 
riation for  the  purpose  of  cele- 
brating  the  one 
hundredth  anni- 
}    versary  of  the  ex- 
ploration of  the 


Fi/ly-two 


LADD     &i     TILTON      BANK 


Night  View  of  Lewis  and  Clark  Exposition,  11)05 


Oregon  Country  by  Captains  Meriwether  Lewis  and 
William  Clark.  The  Lewis  and  Clark  Centennial  Exposi- 
tion, commemorating  this  important  historical  event,  was 
opened  June  i,  1Q05,  and  continued  to  the  end  of  October, 
of  that  year.  It  attracted  great  numbers  of  visitors  from 
the  East,  to  whom  the  exhibits,  particularly  those  of  the 
Northwestern  group  of  states,  were  in  the  nature  of  a  revela- 
tion. No  better  advertisement  for  Portland  and  Oregon 
could  have  been  devised.  To  the  Exposition  is  attributable 
the  swift  growth  of  the  city  during  the  next  five  years,  when 
the  population  increased  from  ibi,205,  in  1905,  to  270,000, 
in  iqio. 

The  Panic  of  igoy 

In  October,  iqo/,  occurred  another  of  those  periodical 
panics  which,  up  to  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the 
Federal  Reserve  System,  the  people  of  the  United  States 
had  come  to  anticipate — their  very   fears  and  expectancy 


Fi/ty-lhree 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 

serving,   doubtless,   in  no  small   degree,   to  precipitate  the 
disaster. 

The  shock  was  first  felt  in  New  York  City,  where  it 
proved  to  he  the  most  acute  crisis  of  any  that  had  occurred 
in  years.  In  three  hours"  time  the  Knickerbocker  Trust 
Company  was  reported  to  have  paid  out  $8,000,000  to  its 
depositors  and  later,  to  quote  a  newspaper  dispatch, 
"emptied  its  cash  vaults  under  pressure  of  the  biggest  run 
experienced  in  a  generation."  *  *  *  "This,  too,"  con- 
tinues the  dispatch  quoted,  "in  the  face  of  the  most  reassur- 
ing statements  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and 
Superintendent  of  Banks,  that  no  insolvency  was  threatened. 
A  stock  exchange  firm  failed  for  $b, 000, 000."  The  situation 
was  desperate  until  a  committee  of  financiers,  headed  by 
Mr.  J.  P.  Morgan,  adopted  measures  for  the  protection  of 
other  institutions  from  a  like  fate,  and,  after  a  few  days, 
confidence  was  restored.  Meanwhile  dispatches  from  Boston, 
Philadelphia,  St.  Louis,  Chicago  and  many  of  the  other 
large  cities  throughout  the  East  and  Middle  West,  brought 
the  most  favorable  assurances  of  a  sound  financial  con- 
dition; while  reports  from  Northwestern  banks,  almost 
without  exception,  were  of  the  "never  better"  kind.  Local 
financiers  were  emphatic  in  their  denial  of  the  existence  of 
any  cause  for  alarm.  The  action  of  the  New  York  Clearing 
House,  a  few  days  later,  in  notifying  their  western  corres- 
pondents that  no  shipments  of  coin  or  currency  would  be 
made,  pending  an  adjustment  of  the  financial  situation, 
created  considerable  alarm  locally;  but  a  proclamation  by 
the  Governor  of  Oregon,  declaring  the  period  from  October  iq 
to  November  2  a  legal  holiday,  had  the  effect  of  forestalling 
any  contemplated  run  on  the  banks.  Meantime,  the  Port- 
land Clearing  House  Association,  following  the  precedent 
established  by  the  banks  in  eastern  cities,  adopted  similar 

Fifty-four 


LADD    &     TILT  ON      BANK 

rules  restricting  the  payment  of  cash,  and  issued  in  lieu 
thereof,  clearing  house  certificates  in  denominations  of 
$5,  $io  and  $20,  for  the  transaction  of  business;  while  drafts, 
and  other  negotiable  paper  drawn  on  eastern  banks,  were 
accepted  only  for  collection  subject  to  payment  in  legal 
tender:  and  the  demand  notice  for  withdrawal  of  saxings 
deposits,  as  prescribed  by  law.  was  temporarily  enforced. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  these  clearing  house  certi- 
ficates were  issued  to  the  extent  of  only  two-thirds  of  the 
value  of  the  securities  they  represented — consisting  of 
lumber,  wheat  and  other  staple  products — and  that,  while 
they  were  made  redeemable  in  cash  February  i,  iqo8,  as  a 
matter  of  fact  practically  all  of  them  had  been  retired  by 
January  i,  iqo8. 

What  made  the  local  situation  especially  complicated 
was  the  fact  that  it  was  the  annual  crop-moving  time,  when 
Portland  banks  customarily  drew  heavily  on  their  eastern 
balances  to  facilitate  this  movement.  However,  the  cordial 
co-operation  received  from  the  business  and  industrial 
interests  of  the  city  and  state,  as  well  as  the  intelligent  and 
sympathetic  attitude  taken  by  a  very  large  majority  of 
citizens,  prevented  the  development  of  anything  like  a 
serious  embarrassment  in  local  financial  circles. 

Bank  is  Remodeled  to  Meet  Growing 
Requirements 

The  1Q07  panic,  which  was  short-li\ed  in  Portland,  was 
the  prelude  to  a  season  of  unexampled  prosperity,  in  which 
Ladd  &  Tilton,  Bankers,  were  accorded  their  full  share. 
Again  the  need  for  more  fioor  space  was  seen  in  the  congested 
appearance  of  the  lobby  during  rush  hours,  and  in  the  lack  of 
room  which  prohibited  the  installation  of  proper   facilities 

Fi/ty-five 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 


William  Mead  Ladd.  President  i^joS  lo   U|i<-i 

for  handling  the  increased  volume  of  business  that  kept 
pouring  in.  To  meet  these  new  conditions  the  bank  was 
entirely  remodeled;  a  wider  entrance,  with  enlarged  lobby 
space,  as  well  as  better  paying  and  receiving  facilities,  were 
made  possible  by  the  removal  of  the  bookkeeping  and  other 
clerical  departments  to  the  upper  floor.      It  was  not  long, 


Fifty-. 


LADD    &     TILTON      BANK 

however,  until  a  pronounced  tendency  toward  the  establish- 
ment of  new  business  districts  in  the  city,  foreshadowed  its 
early  abandonment  for  a  location  more  directly  in  the  path 
of  the  movement  westward. 

Incorporated  as  Ladd  G  Tilton  Bank 

On  May  8,  iqo8,  pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  a  State 
Banking  Law  enacted  by  the  Oregon  Legislature  of  that 
year,  the  bank  was  incorporated  as  "Ladd  &  Tilton 
Bank,"  with  a  capital  of  $1,000,000  and  surplus  and  un- 
divided profits  of  $400,000.  At  this  meeting  Mr.  William 
M.  Ladd  was  elected  President;  Mr.  Edward  Cookingham, 
Vice-President;  Mr.  W.  H.  Dunckley,  Cashier;  and  Messrs. 
Walter  M.  Cook,  R.  S.  Howard  and  J.  W.  Ladd,  Assistant 
Cashiers. 

Bank  Secures  New  Home  in  Spalding  Building 

Meanwhile,  the  phenomenal  growth  of  the  city — in 
which  the  construction  of  the  Spokane,  Portland  &  Seattle 
Railway,  the  very  great  activity  and  enormous  sums  in- 
volved in  real  estate  transfers,  and  the  establishment  of 
branch  houses  by  eastern  concerns,  were  conspicuous  factors 
— served  to  swell  the  bank's  business  to  proportions  that 
taxed  to  the  utmost  the  capacity  of  the  old  bank  building. 
New  quarters  were  engaged  in  the  Spalding  building,  then 
in  course  of  erection  at  Third  and  Washington  streets, 
where  the  ground  floor  was  designed  expressly  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  an  up-to-date,  modern  bank.  The  10,000 
square  feet  of  floor  space  was  deemed  adequate  for  the 
planning  of  an  impressive  lobby  in  which  columns,  walls 
and  pilasters  of  Kasota  stone,  and  counters  of  Brecia  Pavo- 
nazza   marble,    with   fixtures,    railings   and   check   racks  of 

Fiflv-seien 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 


•S^X^A*. 


.-Sfrj^  ^{lfji,^F^Y^ipr^--r^jr^^ 


L^-C 


i 


•i 


■  'I 


■/'  -^  I  "^       ^  '     '-^  '■'      '         «j  IT'S 


■ffibftHH^MiMl^ 


ti'.Kvacd  CJuokinsham,  Pre^idcm 

heavy  bronze  finished  in  Pompeian  green,  combined  with 
the  brilliance  of  Frink  lights  to  produce  an  extremely  artistic 
effect. 

On  January  i,  iqi  i,  the  bank  moved  into  its  new  of^ces 
in  the  Spalding  building.  The  working  staff,  exclusive  ot 
officers,    comprised    b5    employees,     and    the    space    and 


I'lfty-eiglU 


LADD     &     TILT  ON      BANK 

general  facilities  afforded  in  the  new  location  were  so  greatly 
in  excess  of  the  requirements  at  this  time,  that  it  was 
thought  they  would  prove  equal  to  all  ordinary  needs  for 
many  years  to  come.  Scarcely  a  few  years  had  passed, 
however,  before  it  became  evident  to  the  management  that 
new  acquisitions  of  space  would  shortly  be  needed;  and 
advantage  was  taken  of  an  opportunity,  fortunately  pre- 
sented at  this  time,  to  secure  control  of  the  entire  second 
fioor  of  the  Spalding  building.  Then  came  the  Great  War, 
bringing  in  its  train  unheard  of  expenditures  of  money,  and 
the  development  on  a  stupendous  scale  of  new  and  old 
enterprises.  And  in  the  rush  of  business  that  followed,  the 
shrewdness  and  foresight  of  the  management  was  vindi- 
cated. 

As  this  booklet  goes  to  the  printer,  the  bank  is  being 
remodeled  in  order  to  meet  the  demands  of  its  rapidly 
expanding  business.  The  working  staff,  apart  from  the 
officers,  now  numbers  120  employees.  The  accounting  de- 
partments have  been  relegated  to  the  second  floor.  The 
entire  ground  floor  office  will  be  divested  of  every  feature 
not  appurtenant  to  the  facile  transaction  of  business  with 
customers. 


Fi/ty-nine 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 


Statement  of  Condition  of  Ladd  6y'  Tilton  Bank 
At  the  Close  of  Business,  December  ji ,  i86g 


RESOURCES 

Loans  and  Discounts $      788,232.08 

Real  Estate 35,608.08 

Bonds,  Stocks,  Warrants,  Etc 132,755.13 

Cash  and  Due  from  Banks       .     .     .     .  ' 138,754.58 


i,oq5, 350.47 


L  LA  B  I  L  I  T  I  E  S 


Capital $  600,000.00 

Surplus  and  Profits 107,346.27 

Deposits 388,004.20 

$  I, oq5. 350.47 


Sixty 


LADD     &     TILTON      BANK 


Statement  of  Condition  of  Ladd  6^  Tilton  Bank 
At  Close  of  Business,  May  12,  iqig. 


RESOURCES 

Loans  and  Discounts $12,302,275.05 

Stock  of  Federal  Reserve  Bank bo,ooo.oo 

Bonds  and  Stocks , 2,270,031.31 

Customers'  Liability  on  Letters  of  Credit      ....  90,595.83 

Customers'  Liability  on  Account  Acceptances    .     .     .  425,849.62 

Real  Estate  Claims  and  Judgments 46,619.43 

.Accrued  Interest  Uncollected 69,669.37 

U.  S.  Bonds  and  Treasury  Certificates    .     $5,463,737-85 
Cash  and  Due  from  Federal  Reser\e 

Bank  and  Other  Banks 5,312,068.37 

10,775,806.22 


$26,040,846.83 


LIABILITIES 


Capital  Stock  Fully  Paid $   1,000,000.00 

Surplus  and  Undivided  Profits 1,856,366.15 

Reserve  for  Interest,  Taxes,  Etc 121,358.62 

Letters  of  Credit 90,595.83 

.Acceptances 425,84Q-62 

Unearned  Discount ■     •  25,491.35 

Rediscounts 124,5^2.02 

Due  Federal  Reserve  Bank 500,000.00 

Deposits 21,896,623.24 

$26,040,846.83 


Sixty-one 


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2: 


L  A  D  D     &'     T  I  LT  O  N      BANK 

Mr.  W.  M.  Ladd  Retires  and  Mr.  Cookingham 
Becomes  President 

At  the  annual  meeting  held  on  January  q,  iqiq,  Mr.  W. 
M.  Ladd  retired  as  president  of  the  hank,  and  Mr.  \V.  H. 
Dunckley,  who  for  33  consecutive  years  had  served  in  the 
capacity  of  cashier  of  the  institution,  also  retired  from 
active  connection  with  it. 

The  official  roster  at  this  date,  stands  as  follows: 

Mr.  W.  M.  Ladd,  Chairman  of  the  Board; 
Mr.  Edward  Cookingham,  President; 
Mr.  Isaac  D.  Hunt,  Vice-President; 
Mr.  Samuel  L.  Eddy,  Vice-President; 
Mr.  R.  S.  Howard,  Vice-President; 
Mr.  Walter  M.  Cook,  Cashier; 
Mr.  Thomas  H.  West,  Assistant  Cashier; 
Mr.  Cameron  Squires,  Assistant  Cashier. 

With  a  due  appreciation  of  the  heritage  that  has  come 
down  from  the  founders  of  this  historic  institution,  it  will 
ever  be  the  aim  of  the  present  of^cial  staff  to  maintain  in 
every  respect  the  unimpeachable  character  which  those 
pioneer  bankers  of  the  Northwest  so  inclelibh-  impressed 
upon  the  Ladd  &'  Tilton  Bank. 


Sixly-three 


SIXTY      MILESTONES 


Showing  How  Weve  Grown 


DEPOSITS,  1859 

$495?  1. 6:: 


DEC.i31-l5^P  54p.891.6r 


DEC.^IHS69«SSS.0O42O 


DEPOSITS,  1919 

|l?139b.c^ai:4 


DEC.ghlSTP$3^l,4pr,c"c> 


DZC3\'\SSS^  »S,\S9.^c:,SS 


DEC.^iHSP?  ^c-.rpaoi£>,e 


T)ZZ.3\-\S09  m.^\2.744uS 


MAY  (2- 1915    f 2 1,  Sa-,  62a  24 


Sixty-four 


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n'ilYSKSITY  of  CAUFOMHI 
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